























-A 

■i 


NE>&Ly'S POPULAR LIBRARY 


ISLAND 


BY 

SLSME^TIIART 



NEELY’S 

POPULAR 

LIBRARY. 

No. 37. March, 1895. 
00 per year. Issued 
Semi-Monthly. En- 
I tered as second-class 
\ matter at Chicago. 


F. TENNYSON NEELY, fuBLisAER 


NEW YORK 


CHICAGO 





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CLAUDEA’S ISLAND 


BY 

ESME STUART 

I 

AUTHOR OF “ VIRGINIE’S HUSBAND,” “JOAN VELLACOT,” 
ETC., ETC., ETC. 


/no 9 


F. TENNYSON NEELY, 


Chicago, 

Publisher : 

New Y0RK4 


189s. 






Copyright 1895, 

BY 

F. TENNYSON NEELY. 


All rights resetred. 



CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I. On the Mainland . 

II. A Christmas Eve Walk 

III. A Stranger Guest . 

IV. Telling Thordis . 

V. A Promise 

VI. Past Experiences . 

VI 1. A Cottage Meeting 

VIII. A New Interest 

IX. The Death of Blackstar 

X. Sezerina. 

XI. Parting . 

XII. City and Sea . 

XIII. With the “Sea-gulEV 

XIV. Mistaken Ideals 

XV. On the Shore 

XVI. Set Free 

XVII. An Old Friend 
XVIII. The Future . 

XIX. The Task Set 
XX. Unworthy 
XXL At Home 


PACK 

I 

14 

26 

39 

54 

66 

81 

92 

106 

120 

132 

145 

158 

171 

183 

197 

209 

223 

235 

247 

259 



TO MRS. EVELYN HEATHCOTE. 

ILL you, a Poet- Artist, accept this story of 
“ Claudea’s Island,” offered with truest 
admiration ? 

My words have but imperfectly described that 
which your brush has expressed far more poetically ; 
yet from Nature we both draw our inspiration because 
we both love her with humble devotion. 



Esme Stuart. 



CLAUDEA’S ISLAND. 

CHAPTER I. 

ON THE MAINLAND. 

“ When life was like a story holding neither sob nor sigh, 

In the golden olden glory of the days gone by.” 

F course she had been christened Claudia, 
and when she signed her letters she wrote 
it in this approved fashion, but neither 
she, nor anyone else at St. Castell, ever 
pronounced the name in the usual manner. It was 
always Claiidea, and who in the small sea-girt town 
needed any further personal description } Claudea 
was the daughter of the landlord of the “ Mermaid.’' 
He owned this inn and a good many acres. which lay 
round about the building ; and further, he owned 
the ''Nun,” the long rock-fringed island on which 
was built a picturesque farmhouse. It was the only 
homestead in all t^he island, if we except the thou- 
sands of sea-bird nurseries, narrow ledges on the face 
of the high rocks which rose, dark and frowning to 
B 



2 


claudea's island. 


the north and east of the lonely land. Tn some 
seasons of the year these wild birds would join in a 
chorus of clamour which at times rivalled the roar 
of the ocean. Claudea would often stand on the edge 
of the cliff and look down the giddy depth covered 
by the screaming and fluttering gulls, pufflns, razor- 
bills, and other wild sea-fowl. The sight and sound 
fascinated her, and many inexpressible feelings would 
strive for expression in thought as the wind lightly 
lifted her stray curling locks at the bidding of some 
unseen power. 

It had taken many ages to form these great rocks 
now swarming with agitated life, and ages, too, to 
form that humanity which found its expression in 
Claudea Dewis with her beauty, her aspiration, and 
her mobility. When we think of it, there is more to 
wonder at in the existence of a finite imperfect human 
being than in a perfect and immortal angel. 

Claudea had so much life in her. She seemed 
composed of the elements of winds and waves, of 
sea-foam and fine glittering sand, of delicate bivalve 
shells and of the hard Crustacea. At times, too, her 
soul seemed too big for her lithe body ; she felt she 
must have motion, and then she would call David 
Neeld from the farm work, and with this deaf and 
dumb companion she would run down to Forth 
Caerog, and between them they would launch the 
“ Sea-gull ’’ and sail merrily over to the island. No 
fisherman understood how to sail a small boat better 
than did Claudea, for had she not begun as a baby to 


ON THE MAINLAND. 


3 


handle oars and sails, when her father, Martin Dewis, 
had his home on the island, and only came over to 
St. Castell two or three times a week on important 
business or to buy needful provisions ? Not long ago, 
however, the “Mermaid'' at St. Castell was put up 
for sale ; Martin Dewis bid for it, and became the 
landlord and owner of the inn and the farm at- 
tached to it. He and his wife, Madge, were rather 
wearying of the lonely island and of the sea journey 
that divided them from the mainland. Their old 
bones craved for easier paths and less abundance of 
sea water, so Silvester, their younger son, was left at 
the “Nun*' to work that farm and to see after the 
labourers, whilst the rest of the family migrated to 
the mainland. 

“ 'Tis Claudea who will break her heart," said 
Martin, when the move was decided upon, “ but look, 
my lass. I’m a rich man, and my daughter can wed 
whom she likes. Silvester and mother, you can be 
witnesses that the ‘ Nun ' shall belong to Claudea on 
her wedding day, for she knows every foot of the 
island, and there’s no one but her and Dumb Davy 
that has gone from St. Castell to the island backward 
and forward more often, that is, considering her 
length of days." 

Claudea smiled her joy, 

“ Then I’ll go with you, father, if so be I may call 
the island my own some day ; but as to marrying, 
there's time enough for that when the right man 
comes my way." 


4 


CLAUDE A’S island. 


‘‘Ay, ay, time enough, lass; it’s not your father 
that wishes you gone, and Silvester shall keep the 
farm warm till you come back. ’Tis a lonesome 
place, and if so be mother falls sick, it worries me 
to keep watching the wind and waves to see if the 
doctor can cross over. We have worked hard, and 
it’s time we laid in the furrow a bit” 

“ Dumb Davy can manage the ‘ Sea-gull ’ better 
than any lad at St. Castell, father,” ^aid Claudea, 
“ and if I may have him now and again when the 
island sickness takes me, I’ll not mind St Castell so 
much.” 

“ I wager you’ll soon be forgetting the island, girl, 
when you begin to gossip round St Castell ; but, 
there ! you shall have Dumb Davy w'hen you like, and 
Silvester ’ll be mighty pleased to see you when you 
come over.” 

“ You weren’t born on the island, father,” said 
Claudea, laughing a little; '‘you don’t know what 
the sickness is, nor does mother, and she isn’t from 
these parts even. No, I’ll never get over loving the 
island ; it’s in my blood, I feel it. When the ‘ Sea- 
gull ’ sails nearer and nearer the shore there comes a 
bounding feeling in my heart, and when I hear the 
keel grate on the pebbles I feel as if I had all I 
wanted.” 

“ Wait till the lover comes by,” said Martin, “there’ll 
be another kind of home-sickness then, I reckon ; but 
the island shall be yours, Claudea, when you wed — 
it’s your father as says it.” 


ON THE MAINLAND. 5 

Martin knew that when he said this he should feel 
Claudea’s arms round his neck and her sweet lips on 
his old furrowed cheeks. He would have given her 
more than the island, had it been necessary, to make 
sure she loved him. 

** Father spoils the girl,” thought Mrs. Dewis, as 
she looked at the two with her kind motherly eyes ; 
“ he is just silly about her. When I was a girl my 
father never thought of my willing and nilling. It 
was sharp words and plenty of work ; but there, we 
were five girls, and father has but this one. Morgan 
and Silvester don’t find such favour as does Claudea. 
Well, I don’t grudge the girl her joy, but God sends 
us more often sorrow than pleasure, and them as 
seem most favoured have sometimes to pass through 
a rough sea in order to get to the shore.” 

‘‘ Come, mother, don’t you be shaking your head,” 
said Martin, as Claudea ran away. “ The girl isn’t like 
any other girl I know of. She is the prettiest and 
sweetest lass at St. Castell, though I says it, and it will 
go hard with the man that isn’t kind to my daughter.” 

She’s pretty, and as she’s yours, Martin, I doubt 
not but that you’ll think there’s no one as can come 
up to her, but she has queer ways for all that. She’s 
very different to what I was when I was a girl. She’s 
had her liberty too much, and that’s a bad thing when 
a girl has a heart. Claudea takes things too earnest- 
like.” 

‘‘ One would say you didn’t like her to be happy, 
mother. Come, now, when we’re settled in at the 


6 


claudea's island. 


' Mermaid ’ shell see more than enough folks, and her 
quaint ideas 'll melt like snow. I wish Morgan took 
more after his sister. What with his sour looks and 
his short ways I don't see how he's to get on in life. 
Now Silvester's more like Claudea. I would rather 
have left Morgan on the island, but he don't get on 
with the men. They can't stomach his sharp words 
at all." 

‘‘Morgan's never been favoured by you, father," 
answered the kind woman. She had often to defend 
Morgan in spite of knowing full well he was in 
the wrong, and that his temper was always cross- 
grained. Another difficulty about him was that he 
was jealous of Claudea, and never would give in to 
her fancies as did everyone else in the house ; but 
it was Martin, and not his daughter, who resented it. 

Now the change had really been effected. The 
inn had been freshly painted, papered, and repaired. 
The old sign of the “ Mermaid ” had been made more 
wonderful, mythological, and fascinating by new 
scales and new fins in green and gold. Her hair was 
painted of a startling auburn colour, strangely like 
scarlet, and when the renovated sign swung backward 
and forward in a high wind, no more pressing wel- 
come was needed to lure both man and beast into the 
hospitable shelter of Martin Dewis' guest-room. 

* * * * * 

It was Christmas Eve. The old town of St. Castell 
was astir, and all the inhabitants were making active 
preparations for the Eve service. Chapel-goers and 


ON THE MAINLAND. 


7 


church-people were of one mind, on this evening at 
least, in the belief that it was fitting to go to some 
form of worship in order to do honour to the birthday 
of the Christ. 

The town consisted of a few quaint streets. Two 
of them climbing up short steep hills, and the others 
lying on the flat ground above, looking down upon 
their neighbours and upon the ancient church, to 
which had once been attached famous monastic 
buildings, adding life to what was now only a de- 
populated big village. The glory of the past was 
written in large letters on the beautiful carvings of 
endless diversity that enriched the nave and chancel 
of the grey church, and the decay of old ideas was 
also inscribed on the partly ruined transepts, where 
starlings now congregated at even, and wind-driven 
sea-gulls quietly contemplated the desolation. Close 
by were grander and more extensive ruins of an 
ancient palace, in whose grass-grown enclosure Martin 
Dewis’ cows came to graze, and rare tourists stood to 
speculate. 

The service in the old church was to be held at 
eight o’clock, and Mrs. Dewis, having prepared a 
supper to be partaken of after the return home, was 
thinking of going upstairs to put on her bonnet and 
shawl, when she heard her husband’s voice calling to 
her from the old-fashioned guest-room, situated behind 
the large parlour, and now brilliantly illuminated by 
a roaring fire. 

** Mother ! Where is Claudea ? I’m wanting her to 


8 


claudeVs island. 


come to the service with me. There’s carols to be 
sung to-night, and Heaven knows what else ! Mr. 
Tramerin, the new curate, is to discourse, and they 
say Methody Smallbrooke is nothing to him.” 

It’s pretty certain Claudea’s gone to Forth Caerog 
this evening. She said something about wanting a 
sight of the island. The girl is getting daft about the 
old place.” 

‘‘ Nay, nay, Claudea is true to old friends, mother, 
but I reckon the lass will meet us at the door. 
Morgan will stay at home in case a traveller arrives 
to-night. He’s not the man to care for singing o’ 
carols,” and old Dewis laughed till his whole 
jolly frame shook with delight at the idea of his 
sour son Morgan appreciating the beauties of melody. 

Mrs. Dewis’ guess had been a correct one. It was 
a beautiful winter’s evening; indeed, it was almost 
warm, as is sometimes the case near the southern sea- 
coast. A bright moon threw quivering beams upon 
the wavelets and upon the surrounding dark rocks, 
while, from Forth Caerog, the “ Nun ” and other smaller 
islands dotted about in the distance formed a scene 
of indescribable beauty. Close by the life-boat house 
on the shore was a small rude shed where Dewis kept 
his “ Sea-gull,” and a little way up on the cliff was 
the lonely cottage where lived Dumb Davy and his 
mother, and here the Dewis family kept their keys 
and their fishing tackle, paying the widow and her 
son a welcome yearly sum to keep everything clean 
and in order. 


ON THE MAINLAND. 


9 


Claudea could not resist the temptation of running 
down on this first Christmas Eve to the Forth, from 
which place she knew she could get the best view of 
the island bathed in exquisite moonlight. At this 
moment, soon after six o’clock, she was sitting on the 
edge of the Sea-gull,” for she had opened the boat- 
house door so as to shelter herself from the evening 
breeze, and with her chin on her hands she gazed out 
upon the distant scene. From its present appearance 
it might have been a fairyland of unreal dreams, and 
yet it was all as true as it was beautiful, and Claudea 
knew it. The huge rocky cliffs at the eastern ex- 
tremity of the “ Nun ” looked double their true height, 
now that this silvery haze enveloped them. The 
circling bay where she stood made the distance seem 
to be wider and more mysterious, and the smaller 
rocks and islands all appeared to be handmaidens 
to the ‘*Nun” which lay stretched upon the water, 
looking in her greater proportion like an amazon 
among dainty fairies. 

In three-quarters of an hour, or maybe half an 
hour, for the wind is rising, I could take you over 
there, dear Sea-gull. Dumb Davy’s only sitting over 
the fire. I declare I will go. We could be back 
before supper-time. I’m longing for a tramp across 
the island, and I want to look in upon Silvester. 
How he would laugh to see me appear ! Shall I go } 
Maybe father would be sorry to miss me at church, 
but the longing is dreadful.” She crossed her arms 
and pressed her shapely brown hands tightly against 


lO 


claudea's island. 


her bosom as she went on meditating. Folks who 
are born in islands don’t seem to thrive where there’s 
not water all round them. I know the wild birds 
must just be missing me. Anyhow I’m just missing 
them, and I feel sure Silvester’s never put up any 
holly or mistletoe in the old rooms. He forgot to get 
any yesterday, and the words stuck in my throat 
when I was about to remind him. Shall I go } ” 

She stretched herself backward and seized a bunch 
of holly and mistletoe which she had hidden at the 
bottom of the Sea-gull.” At that moment there 
was a rattle of pebbles close beside the tiny path 
leading from the cliff, and Claudea jumped up to find 
that it was Dumb Davy who stood close beside her. 

These two only used signs, but their sign-language 
was wonderfully rich and extensive, and quite beyond 
the understanding of ordinary mortals. 

There’s someone coming down here,” said Davy 
in his sign^language. 

“ Who is it ? ” said Claudea, in the same silent 
vocabulary. 

“ It’s Teilo Price,” replied Dumb Davy. 

Then Claudea laughed. Teilo was such an old 
acquaintance he could understand her longing. But 
suppose he came over too ? Well, no — perhaps her 
mother wouldn’t like it, though why she should mind 
what Teilo did was quite beyond Claudea’s under- 
standing. 

In another moment Teilo himself stood beside her. 
He was the son of the miller at St. Castell, a man of 


ON THE MAINLAND. 


II 


even greater importance to the community than 
Claudea’s father. The two had known each other 
from childhood, and Claudea was not afraid of any 
remark Teilo might make at seeing her here at this 
moment. 

want to go over home, Teilo,” she said half 
laughing, but the laugh ended in a little sigh. 

“ Do you ? Well, what’s to hinder ? I’ll soon rig 
up the sail, and here’s Dumb Davy your obedient 
slave as usual. Come along, Claudea.” 

For one moment Claudea wanted to say ‘‘yes,’' then 
something stopped her. 

“ No, Teilo, I mustn’t. Father ’ll be put about if I 
don’t go to the Eve service with him, but I did sorely 
want to get home. Let’s come to-morrow. Mother’s 
sure to be wanting to know if Silvester is lucky with 
White-ear, and whether the pretty creature’s got over 
her trouble — I fancy she’ll be breaking her heart for 
us, poor thing.” 

Teilo stood beside the boat on which Claudea had 
reseated herself, and furtively looked at the girl who 
made such a charming picture in the moonlight. He 
himself was tall, broad-shouldered, of a reddish-brown 
complexion, with dark brown hair, but a smooth, 
shaven face. He was not exactly handsome, except 
so far as a good figure and good bearing can make a 
man handsome, but there was a determined eager 
look in his eyes showing that he was a man accus- 
tomed to command others and to expect from them 
prompt obedience. His look also spoke very plainly 


12 


claudea’s island. 


of admiration for his companion, but Claudea was 
quite unconscious of it. Dumb Davy, however, with 
his slouching figure, his head, as it seemed, over- 
weighted on one side, his ugly face, but intelligent 
eyes, noted the look, for not many outward things 
escaped the notice of the, as some deemed, much 
afflicted boy. 

‘‘ There are few that would not miss you, Claudea. 
I am glad you have now come to settle at St. Castell. 
Sezerina is mighty glad that you are living so near to 
the mill. She is but a poor sailor; you know she 
didn't like crossing over to the island ; she was 
always afraid.*' 

“ Fancy being afraid of the water ! ” said Claudea, 
laughing. Oh, I love it ! I like to feel it lapping 
over my hands, and I like to watch it curling over 
into big waves. Teilo, I should die if I had to live 
right away inland." 

“ I suppose you never will have to live inland. I 
hear your father says he means to give you the 
island when you marry." 

Father did say so. Well, I must hurry back. Are 
you coming, Teilo } " 

“ Yes, Fm coming. There's a service in our chapel 
to-night." 

The two started up the narrow cliff path in silence ; 
then Claudea remarked, just looking back to see if 
Dumb Davy were following : 

I don’t know how you can keep to chapel-going, 
Teilo. Father says the Dewises of Nun’s Island have 


ON THE MAINLAND. 13 

been church-folk for a long time — hundreds of years. 
Father doesn’t like the chapel-people.” 

'' No, I know he doesn’t. He doesn’t like me.” 

‘‘ Oh, you, Teilo ; you’re just like a brother — I must 
go and tell Davy to put away the keys, for I mustn’t 
go over this evening.” 

Wait, Claudea. You’ll let me come back with 
you, won’t you ? ” said Teilo earnestly, almost 
severely. 

“ Why not ? I meant you to come. Wait here, I 
won’t be long ; so don’t be impatient.” Thus saying, 
Claudea disappeared into the cottage, and the young 
man, leaning against a gatepost, gazed thoughtfully 
at the in-coming of the cold moonlit waves and at 
the misty silvery islands over v/hich the stars twinkled 
on this wondrous Christmas eve. 




CHAPTER II. 

A CHRISTMAS EVE WALK. 

“ Let what I praise be still made good by you : 

Be you most worthy, whilst I am most true.” 

HE road from Forth Caerog to St. Castell’s 
is always lonely. There are no sheltering 
trees on this promontory, but only fair- 
sized hedges, or banks with broad, flat 
tops, on which little paths are trodden by the in- 
habitants, thus providing them with a second series 
of beaten ways above the narrow lanes that intersect 
the country in every direction. The general flatness 
is, however, relieved by several ridges of rocky hills, 
rising almost suddenly and precipitously from the 
plain, and of such wonderful outlines as to have the 
appearance of a miniature range of volcanic moun- 
tains. Every now and again a tiny white cottage 
nestles at the foot of these crags, or shelters itself 
close to the broad back of a hedge. The country is 
but poorly peopled, and the occasional villages, com- 
posed of a smithy, a few cottages, a very modest 
chapel, and usually a small farm just off the main 
road, only add to the loneliness of the surrounding 



A CHRISTMAS EVE WALK. 


15 


land. But if there are few hills, there are many little 
streams and rivulets. Some have deeply furrowed 
their own beds, and thus formed quite respectable 
depressions as they gurgle on to the sea, the delight 
of birds, plants, and wandering cattle. But all round 
St. Castell and its two coasts you are within sound 
and sight of the wonderful sea. At the edge of this 
coast for miles you can walk by the side of the steep 
cliffs, which are so diversified in shape and colour 
as to cause continual surprise as you wind in and 
out, following the big path worn by the feet of 
labourers and of fishermen. This path, parallel with 
the sinuous line of the cliff, is at times so close to 
the edge as to make nervous persons choose in 
preference the more elevated way on the top of the 
bank. 

St. Castell had been built as it were on the base- 
line of a triangle, the point or apex being known as 
St. Casteirs Head. This head, looking like a dark 
sea-serpent in the act of gliding down from some high 
tableland, is visible all round the coast, and can also 
be seen from many of the surrounding little bays or 
porths. The peasants know well its various weather 
moods, and can usually judge what the day is going 
to be by its atmospheric appearance. 

Claudea knew and loved a thousand aspects of 
this country, though she was more at home on the 
island among the tall fern and the heather, the rocks 
and the sea-birds. She had so often come over to 
St. Castell from the “Nun” that she was really no 


i6 


claudea’s island. 


stranger on the mainland. Indeed, she and Teilo 
had many a time wandered all about these very lanes, 
when as a child Claudea had come to spend the 
day at the mill in order to play with Sezerina and 
her brother, and the three had gone to pick black- 
berries, or had run down to one of the porths to look 
for shells. The coast walk, which, as we have said, 
ran for miles in and out of this indented coast, was 
their favourite hunting-ground. Up above there was 
always something fresh to find, to see, or to wonder 
at. Then what famous games they indulged in round 
about the British cliff-castles, the steep, smooth, 
grassy sides of which made such delightful slides or 
runs, and where history on a small scale could be 
repeated by mimic assaults and mimic defences. 

No wonder Claudea looked upon Teilo as another 
brother, and as one who could always be her friend in 
need. If her soul had not been so completely bound 
up with the life of the island, she would have declared 
that St. Castell’s mill was her favourite haunt, for she 
and Sezerina had so often played among the nooks 
and crannies of the quaint building, and had talked 
in whispers of the mysteries of the four great sails. 

This evening, however, Claudea began suddenly to 
feel another influence creeping over her as she walked 
by Teilo’s side along the moonlit road, from whence 
they could see the windmill drawn out against the 
sky and on the horizon the highest street of St. 
Castell, whilst the old church was too much sunk in 
a hollow to be visible from where they stood. Her 


A CHRISTMAS EVE WALK. 


17 


thoughts up to this period of her life had been in a 
manner so little introspective, so much in union with 
the natural world around her, that the first feeling of 
something out of sympathy with this inward peace 
startled her. 

She could not have told why or wherefore, but all 
at once she felt shy with Teilo, and looking up at 
him as he walked by her side in silence she saw him 
with new eyes. She noted his fine manly figure, his 
deep brow overshadowing the dark eyes — eyes whose 
earnest look denoted thought and determination. 
She noticed, too, the smooth, square chin, with its 
decidedly obstinate expression, and the stern mouth, 
very occasionally transformed by a smile of strange 
fascination. 

Claudea knew she had never before looked at Teilo 
in this manner. It was strange, and yet it was true. 
She did not guess that it was because he was thinking 
of her, and that his thoughts were dominating her 
mind. 

“ Claudea ! he said suddenly. 

“Yes, Teilo.” 

“ I hear your father says he will give you the island 
when you marry.” 

“Why, you said that before, Teilo, and I told you 
he had said so.” 

Teilo smiled. 

“ I forgot, Claudea ; I was speaking my thoughts 
aloud. Suppose you were to marry a man who 

doesn’t care about farming, but ” 

C 


/ 


i8 claudea's island. 

But I shan’t, Teilo. Father will give me the 
farm and the island when I marry, and my husband 
and me will be as happy as father and mother have 
been for so long. Silvester and I were happy enough 
too there, except for Morgan. You know he was 
always teasing us and doing things contrary, but one 
generally has to put up with something, and happily 
for us Morgan was a good deal over at St. Castell.” 

“What I mean, Claudea, is that when you marry 
it will be for love of the man whose wife you become. 
Love is a bigger thing than the island or the farm, 
and suppose the talent which God has given him 

doesn’t allow him to be a farmer, why, then ” 

‘‘Why, then he wouldn’t be my husband;” and 
Claudea laughed so happily that Teilo was bound to 
smile in sympathy. 

“ But suppose, just suppose, Claudea, that God called 

him to the work of preaching, and that he thought ” 

“ He thought he loved preaching better than he 
loved me, I would just tell him to give me up to 
follow the preaching line.” 

“ Don’t you be so light-hearted, Claudea. You, 
with all your deep loving nature, can’t you under- 
stand that at times there’s a call that comes from 
within, and which seems to tell a man he must obey.” 

“ Leave all and follow Christ,” said Claudea, ear- 
nestly, after a pause. “ Well, yes, I understand well 
enough, but you Methodists take things so earnest- 
like. Our parson is as good as any of your preachers, 
but he doesn’t pull such a long face over it. You 


A CHRISTMAS EVE WALK. 


19 


don’t mean to say ” Claudea stopped short and 

looked at Teilo. A sudden idea had struck her, so 
she was silent and walked on faster. 

Yes, I do. I mean to say that ” 

** Oh, please don’t ! I never guessed and never 
thought of it.” 

“ I know you didn’t. You just thought of me as a 
brother, dear, and I am that, — but one can’t help such 
things. Love comes to a man like the great wind 
that blows the big mill-sails round. The impetus 
may be small at first, but then — oh ! you know, 
Claudea, the big sails can’t be stopped easily even 
by a man’s hand, and there’s danger in it all * but a 
woman’s finger can guide the machinery, and make 
the big things obey her will.” 

“Teilo, I’ve never thought of such a thing,” said 
Claudea, almost in a whisper. “Don’t say any 
more about it, dear ; besides, there’s father and the 
island.” 

“I know there is everything against me, only I 
thought, dear Claudea, if there was ever such a little 
whisper in your heart that in the end— in the end we 
might be more to each other — I could wait. Nay, I 
must wait, because I think I ought to see whether 
the call is a true one ; whether I must give up the 
mill, and go out among the lonely and the God-forsaken 
folk in our distant villages and preach the good words 
to them.” 

Claudea felt suddenly rebellious and raised her head 
proudly. 


26 claudea's island. 

‘*0h well, if you don’t know whether it’s me or 
thencall, you had best wait and see, and say nothing 
more about it.” 

Teilo pressed his lips tightly together and said 
nothing. A fierce struggle was taking place in his 
mind ; he had not known before how fierce could be 
a man’s conflicting thoughts. 

‘‘ Let’s hurry on,” added Claudea. “ Look here, 
Teilo, I didn’t mean to be unkind, but — no. I’ve never 
thought of marrying except in a far-off sort of way. 
If you want to leave St. Castell and go preaching, and 
if you don’t see your way to farming — you used to say 
that was what you liked best — why father would 
never say ‘yes ’ to you, and I couldn’t break the old 
man’s heart by leaving him. He and I always under- 
stand each other. Besides, we are church-people, and 
the old church seems to speak plain to me just as the 
island does. When Mr. Hathaway explains the 
strange carvings to us, we seem somehow to join hands 
with the early times. There’s no beauty in your 
Methody chapels. Oh, I must have the beautiful 
things about me. God teaches us that by everything 
we see here. He. makes nothing ugly.” 

“But the soul’s gone out of it all,” said Teilo, for- 
getting he was pleading against himself. “ What’s the 
use of beauty when the spirit of the Lord is gone from 
it ? Your cold formal words don’t stir men’s hearts 
to take up the Cross. It’s not Mr. Hathaway when 
he studies books in his comfortable library that will 
make those poor ignorant fishermen wake up to see 


A CHRISTMAS EVE WALK. 


2t 


what dull, godless lives they are living. It’s our 
preachers that will do that.” 

“ Well, I don’t hold by revivals ; no more does 
father. The men wake up, and think they are won- 
derful saints, but they soon fall back again. It takes 
a good long time to beat down a path plain enough to 
show the way to any place ; and as to a road — see 
how long that takes to make. If the church-people 
get dull, why — but look, Teilo! we can just see the 
church from here ; doesn’t it look beautiful ? They 
have lighted all the lights to-night. I must run. Don’t 
you come with me. There’s the nearest road to your 
chapel.” She held out her hand as she spoke. 

Wait one minute, Claudea. Is there no hope of 
your thinking differently ? I didn’t know myself till 
lately what it was which was holding me back. It 
was the thought of losing you. I saw all at once as it 
were by a flash of lightning that you were chaining 
me here. The love of you had grown with my growth 
and no one warned me, and now, Claudea, it is too 
strong to snap it off. I can’t do it.” 

‘‘That’s a poor sort of love. I’m thinking. Besides, 
I don’t love anybody like that. When I marry, my 
husband must know he loves me best of all. As to 
the call — why, Teilo, if so be you hear it, then you had 
better give up everything and join the preachers. 
Let’s shake hands and be friends again. There’s time 
enough to think of marrying. Mother can’t spare 
me yet, and I can’t live away from home and the 
island. Besides, suppose we did marry and you found 


22 


claudea's island. 


I hindered you, I fancy words would follow.” Claudea 
laughed happily. I should be jealous of your call, 
and think I was worth more than your sermons.” 

Claudea ! is that you } ” It was Morgan’s surly 
tones. 

Claudea felt suddenly guilty, 

‘‘Yes, Morgan, it’s me. What do you want.^” 

“ Whatever do you go gallivanting out here for, at 
night ? Father got anxious and sent me out to look 
for you, and there’s a stranger come in, and mother’s 
that flurried she declares she can’t go to carol- 
singing.” 

“ I was at the Forth and I met Teilo ! He’s seeing 
me home safe enough. You needn’t trouble yourself 
about me, Morgan.” 

“ You’re too old now, Claudea, to go about like 
this.” 

“ Claudea’s safe enough here,” put in Teilo 
quickly. “ There’s not man or woman that would 
annoy her.” 

“ Dare say not, but there are some idiots who 
should know better than to ” 

“Do you mean to imply ” said Teilo, suddenly 

feeling the hot blood mounting to his face, and stand- 
ing tall and straight in his pride. 

“ I don’t imply anything. I only say if folks see 
you walking with my sister on the road they’ll ” 

“How dare you.^^” said Teilo, suddenly striking 
out. 

“ I do dare,” retorted Morgan, savagely; and before 


A CHRISTMAS EVE WALK. 


23 


Claudea could do more than exclaim, the two broad- 
shouldered young men were measuring the strength of 
their fists. 

** For shame, for shame, Morgan ! how dare you in- 
sult Teilo ? Leave off,” 

But the sudden passion which had raised this 
storm could not be stilled by a woman's words. 
Morgan Dewis was shorter but more thick-set than 
Teilo, also he was older and stronger; but Teilo 
Price was more agile, and parried the blows more 
swiftly, whilst every now and then taking his adver- 
sary by surprise he dealt him an unexpected thrust. 

In the meanwhile the young girl stood by in an 
agony of fear for the combatants, who, with set teeth 
and clenched fists, tried to right their sudden wrongs. 
They had stepped off the road on to a bit of green- 
sward close to a wayside pool where the passing 
cattle often stopped to drink, and where now the 
moonbeams were broken by the quivering water, 
troubled by the evening’ breeze, and reflecting on its 
broken surface the dark forms of the fighters. 

“ Morgan, how can you ? Fighting for such a little 
thing, too ! And it's Christmas Eve ! What would 
father say Teilo, do leave him alone ! ” 

But neither of the combatants heard her words, and 
though for a moment she thought of thrusting herself 
between them, she soon perceived how impossible 
this would be, for the two appeared like only one 
form, over which ghastly lights and shadows chased 
each other, as if mocking their impotent struggles. 


24 


claudea’s island. 


All at once there was a sound of trotting heard in the 
distance, and Teilo, making a great effort to free him- 
self from the grasp of Morgan’s powerful hand, was 
able to twist himself a little on one side, and with a 
well-directed blow to send Claudea’s brother reeling 
a few spaces backward. Morgan could easily have 
righted himself had he not slipped back upon a large 
stone, and before he could do more than utter a 
muttered oath, he found himself rolling into the 
muddy pool, unable to prevent a ducking and the loss 
of his dignity. 

Teilo stood quite still for a-moment without saying 
a word ; indeed, it took him a few seconds to regain 
his breath, and he seemed barely conscious of Mor- 
gan’s ridiculous position till the rider, who had been 
coming quickly nearer, pulled up at the sight of the 
two. 

“ Hulloa, who is here ? Good heavens ! Morgan, 
have you been cooling yourself in that mud ? It's 
hardly the spot to choose for a clean bath.” 

Oh, Silvester, it’s you ! ” cried Claudea, stepping 
close to her brother. ‘^Oh, Fm glad you’ve come 
over. Do make the peace between them — Teilo and 
Morgan have had words, and ” 

“ What, fighting ! and with a girl to look on. For 
shame, Morgan ! ” 

I’ll thank you to mind your own business, Sil- 
vester,” said Morgan, struggling out of the mud. 

“ So I will,” answered his brother, bursting out 
laughing, '‘but I don’t advise you to appear at the 


A CHRISTMAS EVE WALK. 2 $ 

carol-singing in that plight. You’ll frighten the girls 
into fits.” 

Morgan Dewis now seemed to turn his anger against 
his brother. He looked up at him with an angry 
scowl which made Claudea shudder as she noticed it. 

‘‘ Silvester,” she murmured, leave him alone ; he’s 
angry. Let me walk home with you.” 

“ You’ll both of you be sorry for this night’s work,” 
said Morgan, shaking himself free of his thick coat of 
mud and water ; then, with another muttered oath, 
he took a side-road, and for a few seconds the tread 
of his heavy footsteps could be heard by the three 
whom he had left standing on the high road. Sil- 
vester dismounted as he remarked — 

“ What’s all this about, Claudea ? ” 

** Oh, nothing, nothing. Morgan’s in one of his 
tempers. Good-bye, Teilo. I’ll walk on with Sil- 
vester.” 

Teilo still stood motionless near the pool. His 
whole frame was quivering from the struggle he had 
gone through, and as he watched Claudea and Sil- 
vester walk away towards St Castell he seemed to 
realize at last that he was now alone and that he had 
been giving way to fierce passion. 

** Oh, God ! ” he said, what have I done ? 1 who 

have been talking of preaching to others.” 

At this moment the bells of the old church burst 
forth clear and joyful through the evening air — 
Peace and good will towards men ! Peace and good 
will, good will and peace ! ” 



CHAPTER III. 

A STRANGER GUEST. 

^‘Therefore, now I’ll love no more 
As I’ve doted heretofore ; 

He who must be, shall be poor.” 

HE old church was crammed on this 
Christmas Eve night. All the wor- 
shippers thought it their duty to come 
to this service, if they came to none 
other in the year. The feeling dated perhaps from 
the ancient Druidical days, for at her coming 
Christianity appropriated to herself many of the old 
heathen customs which, having taken deep root in 
some of the so-called indigenous races, could not 
easily be eradicated. The peasants round St. Castell 
did not think it a hardship to walk miles to these 
special services, and religiously and secretly observed 
many an ancient superstitious rite, fully believing 
that the luck of the coming year depended on their 
exact fulfilment. One of these superstitions was 
that on this night the worshippers must enter the 
churchyard only by the east entrance, and walk down 
the thirty-nine steps which led down to the south 
door of the massive building. It was a picturesque 




A STRANCxER GUEST. 


27 


sight enough to see the pilgrims coming slowly and 
solemnly down these weather-worn steps on this 
special moonlight evening. All were wishing each 
other “A Merry Christmas,” intermingling their 
wishes with scraps of news relating to more worldly 
affairs than the birth of the Prince of Peace. There 
had been a wreck some miles off, and there was some 
money to be made out of the drift-wood — one would 
give the labour if another lent the horses. Farmer 
Penbery’s cows had sickened in a strange manner 
last week — some said it was witchcraft, or else the 
disease, but the first conjecture was the more pro- 
bable. Widow Liddy's cottage was to be swept 
away by the next high tide — old Betty Croon had 
prophesied it, because she had dreamt the fact twice , 
over, and so on. 

Silvester and Claudea reached the top of the steps 
by the Pobbles, as the stony path was called, just as 
the bells ceased ringing, but they found Mrs. Dewis 
waiting for them, looking flustered and anxious. 

“Whatever have you been doing, Claudea.?” was 
the mother’s greeting. “ I thought you were lost, 
child ; and father’s been keeping on so. He’s gone in 
with a stranger who wants to attend carol-singing, 
but I just said I’d wait. And so you’ve come over, 
Silvester ; well, I am glad enough to see you. A 
merry Christmas to you, my boy. How is White-ear .? 
Has she got over her trouble.? If I had had a mo- 
ment of time I’d have gone over, but I haven’t been 
able to leave father and all the business of the house. 


28 


claudea’s island. 


There, I mustn’t talk any more ; we must get in. 
Claudea, my dear, you look pale.” 

So talking on somewhat at random Mrs. Dewis 
walked solemnly down the steps followed by her son 
and daughter, and all remembered the old super- 
stition without mentioning it. 

Then they entered the beautiful church and walked 
hurriedly up to their seat, where already the landlord 
of the Mermaid ” and the stranger were seated. 
Claudea had no eyes for anything this evening ; in- 
deed, once on her knees, she forgot where she was, 
and she could only go over again in her own mind 
the exciting scene she had unwittingly originated and 
shared. What had Teilo said to her ? What was 
this new strange feeling which filled her mind with 
wonderings ? Claudea had not been one to talk of 
love and lovers ; she had been so much away from 
petty gossip that there had been but little space left 
in her mind for such things. Her great love had 
been for her island home, for her father, mother, and 
for Silvester. Sezerina had often chatted about lovers, 
but Claudea had not taken much notice, for Sezerina 
was a feather-headed girl. Her own mother said so, 
and remarked how unlike she was to Teilo, but then 
she was gentle and affectionate, and loved Claudea 
with all her heart — the love in this instance being 
certainly born of contrast. Claudea was to her the 
embodiment of all that was strong, beautiful, and 
superior. Her occasional waywardness was an addi- 
tional charm in Sezerina’s eyes, and if Teilo had not 


A STRANGER GUEST. 29 

been of the same mind he would long ago have tired 
of hearing Claudea's praises from his sister's lips. 

This evening it was Sezerina who watched her 
friend’s entrance into church, for she had slipped 
away from her family to hear the carols in church, 
and also to see Claudea, the sight of Claudea being 
infinitely nicer to her than the grave dull prayers at 
the chapel, where she incurred Teilo’s anger if she 
laughed or looked about. 

Sezerina was short and stout in person, and was 
always inclined to giggle with or without sufficient 
reason. Her face was freckled, her nose turned up, 
her mouth large by nature and made wider by smiles. 
There seemed no solid foundation to her motives, and 
the only lasting feeling she appeared to possess was 
her love and admiration for Claudea, and a general 
wish to do as she was asked. 

She had chosen a seat whence she could see 
Claudea, and at the entrance of her friend she was 
struck by her paleness and by her strange frightened 
expression. 

What has Claudea been doing ? I’ve never seen 
her look like that — and la ! what a fine gentleman is 
sitting with Mr. Dewis. He must be a traveller. He’s 
just the right height for Claudea. What a handsome 
pair they would make ! I wish I was handsome, that 
I do. Teilo says it’s a snare of the Devil and a 
stumbling-block for sinners, but I’d risk the snares if 
so be I could change with Claudea. How she fixes 
her pretty eyes ! La ! one would say she is wandering 


30 


claudea’s island. 


away from her body. There’s something up. I fancy 
she’s been to the Forth and been staring at the 
island till she’s dazed. She don’t even notice the 
stranger, but he’s looking at her — just out of the 
corners of his eyes, so sly-like. The men all look at 
the pretty girls, and never so much as squint at me. 
The gifts of nature aren’t given fairly like, though 
Teilo does say, 'We should be thankful to be born 
straight and square and with one leg no shorter than 
the other, nor deaf and dumb like poor Dumb Davy.’ 

' Hark* the Herald Angels sing ! ’ Well, they do sing,^ 
but I can’t Nature didn’t mean me to be an angel, 
for I’ve no voice, and there’s Claudea who can sing so 
sweetly, better than any in all St Castell, and she 
does not care one farthing about it Yes, I can see 
Teilo at home turning round a wee bit whenever 
Claudea begins her snatches of songs, though he does 
say we should only sing to the glory of God. There 
now, the stranger’s heard Claudea’s voice*; I can see 
him pricking up his ears like our dog Toby. Dogs 
are awfully knowing, and Claudea says cows are just 
human. There’s Mr. Tramerin, the new curate, look- 
ing at me. He’s wondering why I’m here. Claudea’s 
still in the clouds. Well, I suppose she’s with the 
angels. They should be mighty pleased to see her. 

I wonder if she’ll walk home with me ? I’ll soon 
shake her awake.” 

Such was Sezerina’s mental pathway during the 
carols. Her thoughts would not go upwards, and 
were not even like the sparks that die striving to 


A STRANGER GUEST. 


31 


reach a higher plane. One more burst of the organ, 
and then Mr. Tramerin mounted the pulpit steps 
and spoke a few words to his congregation. ‘‘ Because 
thou knewest not the time of thy visitation,^’ was his 
text, and he was decidedly eloquent. 

Claudea at last woke up and listened, but the words 
did not seem meant for her. She wanted to know 
the future, not the present. She wanted to feel that 
she need not think of Teilo’s words — why should she, 
if he wanted to live another life from hers ? He would 
never be able to sympathize with her love of beauty, 
her love of nature. He would always want her to be 
stern and religious. True, Sezerina was neither, but 
Teilo despised his sister, and often said that she had 
no earnestness and no religious purpose. What was 
love ? Did she love Teilo ? If Teilo had told her he 
loved her, he must mean it very much indeed— but — 
but 

Mrs. Dewis gave her daughter a little nudge to 
wake her up. 

Come, Claudea, are you asleep ? Can’t you walk 
out ? Silvy, you’ll come home to supper ? The 
moon will serve for going across late. How’s the 
tide ? ” 

Silvester nodded his assent to the offer of supper, 
and then the Dewis family followed the congregation 
as they scattered themselves in groups in the church- 
yard, talking and laughing in half-subdued tones. 

‘‘A merry Christmas, Claudea! You were nearly 
late. I expect it was island-gazing you were at I A 


32 


CLAUDEA^S ISLAND. 


regular home-sick child you are. Silvester’s come, I 
see. Let me walk home with you. Teilo and the 
others won’t be home for ever so long. Oh, la ! vv^asn’t 
old Mrs. Jones a figure of fun. I know her bonnet 
hasn’t had new strings since I was eight years old. 
It’s this way, sir, to the ‘Mermaid.’ I see Mrs. Dewis 
is going to speak to a neighbour.” 

Sezerina could not resist accosting the stranger, and 
he seemed very willing to be spoken to as Se cour- 
teously approached the two girls. He had been filled 
with surprise at the sight of the landlord’s daughter, 
whose tardiness he had heard discussed on the way to 
the church. 

“I hope,” he said, addressing Claudea, “you had 
not lost your way. I heard your mother lamenting 
your absence.” 

Claudea looked up quickly into his face with the 
half-frightened, half-inquiring look of a shy animal, 
who has not quite made up its mind whether the 
newcomer is a friend or a foe. She saw beside her a 
gentleman in a rough travelling suit, whose face was 
keen but kindly, and whose half-scornful smile was 
nullified by a certain tenderness of expression in his 
eyes — an expression which was very reassuring. 

“You are a stranger, of course, sir, or else you 
would know I couldn’t lose my way.” 

“ I should think Claudea couldn’t, indeed ! Why, 
she’s better than a man at going about. She can 
beat Teilo — that’s my brother — at the oar; and don’t 
you remember, Claudea, you won the race once down 


A STRANGER GUEST. 33 

to the Forth when we three laid a wager on the one 
who should arrive there first ?’* 

I was a girl then, and I ran all the way,” said 
Claudea, laughing. 

Ah ! there’s the child ! ” exclaimed her father, 
coming up with the waddling gait caused by his 
portly size. What did you do, miss, to make your 
mother so fidgety ? ” 

“I was down at the Forth just watching,” said 
Claudea quickly. 

‘‘Watching what, may I ask ? ” said the stranger. 

Claudea laughed. “Well, just the island, sir. It 
is my home, and I was a bit homesick to-night.” 

“This seems to me enough out of the way with- 
out wishing for any other, but I am delighted to 
hear there is a still more quiet nook. I hope you 
will let me go there. I have come to bury myself 
in the loneliest place I could find on consulting a 
map.” 

Sezerina laughed. 

“ Well, that is strange. Fm always wishing St 
Castell wasn’t so dull, but Claudea here prefers the 
island, and that’s duller.” 

“You call it ‘the island,’ but as I drove here this 
afternoon I saw many islands in the distance.” 

“ There are many, but there’s but one about here 
that has any house upon it, and that’s our farm. We 
lived there for years ; we have only lately moved, for 
mother is getting old and felt it to be too lonely. If you 
are ill, there’s the boat to be sent for the doctor, and 
D 


34 claudea’s island. 

if the sea is bad it's not every doctor that will venture 
forth." 

“But Claudea is never one bit afraid," put in her 
friend. 

The stranger looked at the lithe figure beside him, 
and noted its many perfections and the bright intelli- 
gence of the beautiful face. ^ 

‘‘ You don’t look strong enough to manage a boat in 
a rough sea, however," he said, noting the small hands. 

“ Strong ! I’m very strong, and I have handled an 
oar since I was almost a baby." 

They had now reached the door of the “ Mermaid," 
and Claudea stepped up to Silvester. 

“You’ll not say anything about Morgan and Teilo, 
will you, Silvy ? " 

“ Why should I ? But I declare Morgan is getting 
worse every year. His temper will get him into 
trouble one of these days." 

‘'Silvester, you had better stay the night, and go 
back to-morrow. You ought to spend Christmas Day 
with us," said Mrs. Dewis. “Morris and Betty can 
be trusted for a night, I reckon, and then there’s 
Morgan will be wanting to see you." 

“ Morgan never wants to see anyone, least of all his 
brother,’’ said Silvester, laughing; “but I’ll stay, 
mother, if you wish it." 

“And Sezerina had better stay to supper," said 
Claudea quickly. She wanted to have the presence 
of a stranger, so as to make Morgan behave at least 


A STRANGER GUEST. 


35 


“Thank you, but Teilo will want me, and mother 
and father will say I prefer you to them. I would 
dearly love to stay all the same, Claudea. Well, 
good night, and a merry Christmas to you ! '' 

Sezerina tripped away, and Silvester smiled and 
nodded at her as she turned back a moment to wave 
her hand at her friends. 

Then the Dewis family went in to eat their supper. 
The stranger had ordered his meal to be taken in to 
him in his private sitting-room, for there was nothing 
cheerful for him at this Christmas tide ; he had 
nothing but his own sad thoughts. 

At supper-time Mrs. Dewis discussed the unexpected 
traveller, whilst Morgan sat at table looking sullen 
and hardly opening his mouth, but Claudea forced 
herself to appear light-hearted, feeling very much the 
reverse. 

“ Who is this stranger ? ” asked Morgan in a surly 
voice, addressing his mother. 

“ The ' Mermaid ' is open to anyone who looks 
respectable. It’s not for me to inquire, of course. 
When you were gone, Claudea, this gentleman drove 
up in a hired conveyance from Harwood East, and 
said he wanted a bedroom and a sitting-room for an 
indefinite time. He wanted solitude, he said. ‘Well, 
sir,’ says I, ‘you can have all that and more here.’ 
Which is true. He said, ‘Certainly it seems I can, for 
you are as far away from a railway as you can be. I 
want peace and quiet for my work.’ ‘Are you an 
artist-gentleman ? ’ I said, and then he laughed and 


36 


claudea's island. 


said, ‘ No, I am a writing gentleman, but Til pay 
my bills and give you no trouble.’ Then he heard 
we were going to carol-singing, and said he would 
come too. That’s the long and short of it. What do 
you think of him, Claudea? You are always so 
particular.” 

^^Oh, I haven’t looked at him,” said Claudea. ‘'I 
had other things to think of.” 

** He seems young and good-looking, I should say,” 
remarked Silvester, ‘'which is to his advantage. But 
I don’t fancy men who have no real occupation. A 
painting chap is bad enough, but ” 

“ No one is good enough for Silvester,” muttered 
Morgan. 

“Come now, it’s Christmas Eve, my boys. It’s not 
a night for dispute, least of all between brothers,” 
said Mrs. Dewis. “Have some pie, Morgan. Was 
Dumb Davy at church, Claudea 

“ No, I think not. His mother wanted his company ; 
she’s too ill to come out. Poor Davy, he sits and 
looks at the boat, longing for me to go over.” 

This evening the men . sat some time over their 
supper, long after Claudea and her mother had retired 
to the kitchen to give the girl a helping hand. When 
they were in the passage, the parlour door opened, 
and the stranger lingered in the doorway, watching 
the moonlight bathing the great village cross which 
stood a little way down the street. 

“Miss Claudea, if your brother is going over, per- 
haps he’ll take me to your island to-morrow ? ” 


A STRANGER GUEST. 37 

yes, sir. Tm going, too, so Til bring you 
back. Dumb Davy will give me a helping hand.'* 

** Thank you. I am quite curious to see this island. 
A merry Christmas to you and good-night ! 

‘‘He seems a pleasant-spoken young man,’' said 
Mrs. Dewis, '‘but I dare say he’ll be tired of the place 
in a week. They always are — the men who do 
nothing in particular.” 

When Claudea was in bed she lay awake thinking 
and thinking about the events of that day. Teilo 

loved her. He must always have loved her, but 

What would her father say he didn’t like Teilo 
because he was a Methodist. The Dewis family had 
always been church-people. Besides, there was a 
secret rivalry between the miller and the landlord, 
a secret and unacknowledged race for riches, and a 
secret and almost acknowledged contempt of each 
other’s religion. As to letting Claudea marry a 
Price, it was a thing in old Dewis’ mind not to be 
contemplated. Claudea must marry a gentleman 
farmer. They would be glad to get her money, and 
as to beauty — she was beautiful enough to marry a 
king! 

" No,” said Claudea to herself, " I mustn’t decide. 
If Teilo hadn’t fought with Morgan it would have 
been easier ; but how strong he looked, and wasn’t he 
brave Teilo made me care a little bit. He isn’t 
only a Methody, no, he is a brave man ; but I don’t 
love him as one must love one’s husband. But that 
higher life he is always talking about, I don’t under- 


claudeVs island. 


38 

stand it ; no, Vm only a stupid girl, I don’t see what 
it means. I wish Morgan wasn’t living here ; I wish 
he would go away. I’m afraid of him. I’m afraid of 
what he’ll do to Silvester and Teilo. It isn’t peace, 
good will on earth yet — no, not yet.” Then Claudea 
fell asleep, and woke no more till it was Christmas 
Day, 




CHAPTER IV. 

TELLING THORDIS. 

But love is such a mystery, 

I cannot find it out ; 

For when I think Pm best resblved, 

I then am in most doubt.” 

N his private room at the “Mermaid” 
Herbert Ravenscroft woke up to a new 
epoch in his life. He had fled from dis- 
appointment with the determination to 
put as many miles as possible between himself and 
his sorrow. He had private means, but no near rela- 
tions, and he had dreamt a dream of love and joy 
which had suddenly faded and dissolved its fairy 
fabric into mere nothingness. This morning, when he 
woke up and heard the Christmas bells ringing their 
joyous peals, he recollected that at last he was .free, 
quite free to do as he pleased with himself and with 
his future life. He was by profession an author, but 
an author who wrote much and published little. He 
was very angry with the modern deluge of undigested 
words, and he raged at the flood of foolishness which 
was daily offered to feed the multitude. He had 





40 


CLAUDEA’S ISLAND. 


once fancied he could live and die satisfied with litera- 
ture, but suddenly one day, quite by chance — a happy 
chance he called it then — he had met a young girl, 
gracious in manner, pretty, delicate, highly educated 
and highly emotional — in fact, a sweet, modern hot- 
house plant. She was the daughter of Lord Corn- 
leigh, and her father was her devoted slave. She 
loved books better than balls, and very soon it was 
noticed that the Hon. Miss Ashton was always to be 
seen in company with Herbert Ravenscroft, the 
author, whose works were few but choice. The 
dreani was very sweet whilst it lasted. Herbert 
fancied he had discovered a precious pearl, a jewel he 
could wear with pride and distinction ; but if Georgina 
Ashton appeared a being of angelic simplicity to 
him, she was a puzzle to herself. She had no pride 
of caste, but fancied herself a patroness of art and 
literature ; so that she easily fell in love with Herbert 
Ravenscroft, and delighted to be the chosen one. 
She was naturally yielding, and for a time she be- 
lieved her lover to be cast in a perfect mould. Then 
she began to weary of him, and of the high standard 
she had set up for herself. She met a musician, who 
told her she was his dream of harmony and the key- 
note of his life. As she was very fond of music, she 
found the musician’s phrases more emotional than the 
classical form of Herbert’s writings. The musician 
was a man who never seemed to be the least aware of 
his or other people’s prior engagements. He was too 
emotional himself to feel the emotion of his fellow- 


TELLING THORDIS. 


41 


creatures, so without apology he quietly stepped into 
Herbert’s place. 

Georgina confessed her change of mind to Herbert 
with such sweet contrition that he was obliged to 
acknowledge she was not a flirt, but merely an emo- 
tional woman, who could no more help changing her 
mind than she could help growing older. It is no use 
being angry with the inevitable in nature, or abusing 
a broken silken cobweb. Herbert saw this ; only he 
had deeply loved this girl, and had believed in her 
superior nature as he believed in her superior birth. 

“ Let us always be friends,” she said, but he shook 
his head. 

“ I shall leave London,” he replied, “ and I shall 
bury myself somewheire and try and forget you. If I 
go on seeing you I shall lose all power of work.” 

“Please don’t,” she said, with tears in her eyes. 
“ I can never forget you, or all you have taught me ; 
but how can I worship literary perfection when all 
my soul seems to be floating away to another dream- 
land, and someone else has more power to raise me 
higher ? ” 

Herbert did not even look at her then. His ideal 
woman also fled away into another dreamland. He 
would in future live for himself and his own ideas, 
and he would live and learn to forget ! 

“ I have certainly found the right place to do this,” 
he thought as he looked out this morning over the 
distant landscape, and saw the many islands floating, 
as it were, on waving lines of blue sea, and noted the 


42 


claudea's island. 


miniature mountains with their exquisite outlines, 
giving strength to the flat ruggedness of the plain. 
Above all, there came to him the mysterious smell of 
the sea, wafted from the depths of sea-life and in- 
visible waves of ozone. 

Then he remembered the evening service of the 
previous night, and the kindness of the landlord 
and his family, and especially he remembered the 
daughter’s beautiful, earnest face — the girl with the 
strangely pronounced name of Claudea. How unlike 
she was to his lost Gina, whose pale, aesthetic face 
showed so easily the wayward workings of an over- 
civilized mind. Among these people all was sim- 
plicity of thought and of religion, which to Herbert 
appeared as refreshing as this salt-sea smell. He did 
not mean to attach himself greatly to life again. His 
own books and the book of nature would be enough 
for him. He would study primitive man and woman 
in this lonely bit of land as one studies a new language, 
or a new dialect of an old speech, and try to forget 
his fickle love. Nature could not deceive her children, 
and there could at least be no complications due to 
over-civilization at St. Castell and in its quiet hotel. 

The bells of the old grey church clashed out, 
** Peace on earth, good will towards men,” and the 
young man listened. Here at all events there was 
peace, and with a sigh of relief Herbert Ravenscroft 
unpacked his books and his few possessions before 
he sauntered down to the church. 

He did not sit with the Dewis faunily this time ; 


TELLING THORDIS. 43 

indeed, he kept away from them, partly from a feeling 
of not wishing to intrude upon them, and partly be- 
cause he now much preferred courting a solitary life. 
A stout, though comely servant brought up his 
Christmas dinner in silence, but when she was re- 
treating she said shyly : 

If you please, sir, Mister Silvester is going over to 
the island at two o’clock, and would you please to go 
over with him. It’s the tide that will be right by then.” 

Herbert’s curiosity was excited about this island, and 
he sent word he would be ready at the time named. 
Miss Claudea was to row him back, he knew, and that 
in itself was a new experience. The very idea of so 
much energy in such a young girl took away the 
recollection or any comparison he might wish to 
make between her and the delicate and languid Gina. 
Why had she not been brought up in this love of 
nature instead of in drawing-rooms of over-forced 
feelings — why 

When he went downstairs he found Claudea waiting 
for him. He was again much struck with the beauti- 
fully-cut face, and with the dark soft eyes and their 
occasional flashes of mirth or surprise. The bright 
colour on the oval cheeks, the firm chin and white 
teeth were a revelation to him of perfect health, and 
the whole picture was calculated to give the gazer a 
feeling of living out of doors with fresh winds blowing 
on one’s face and the smell of the sea in one’s 
nostrils. 

“ I thought if you came alone you would miss your 


44 


claudea's island. 


way,” said Claudea, simply. My brother has gone 
on to get the boat out, but if by mistake you wan- 
dered on to another porth we should lose the tide — 
Davy, Dumb Davy!” she called out, at the same time 
making a rapid sign with her right hand, and then 
Herbert saw that he was not to walk alone with 
Claudea, but that a strange-looking boy was to 
accompany them. Dumb Davy’s face was evidently 
that of a being who was almost a natural, and yet 
there was also, as is often the case, a cunning look in 
his small grey eyes. Herbert was interested at once 
in this curious study. He noted the boy’s glance of 
dog-like fidelity at Claudea as the lad appeared 
carrying some cushions, fishing tackle, and a small 
basket of provisions. 

‘‘ He’s deaf and dumb, sir,” said Claudea, ^‘but he 
always comes with me. Together we can manage 
our boat ; it wants two when there are sails to be 
hoisted. We shall not have long to-day, for the tide is 
not convenient, and perhaps you would not like the 
tossing we get when the flood is running fast. We 
must catch it at the turn. The currents are dreadfully 
strong between the Porth and the island. Do you 
see that at both ends there is only a narrow channel, 
opening out to the open sea,' though from here it is 
but two miles across from the Porth. Then one has 
to mind that great reef of sharp rocks you see yonder. 
They call them the Whelps.” 

And you love your island home dearly ? ” asked 
Herbert, trying to draw her out. 


TELLING THORDIS, 


45 


Claudea laughed. 

Don’t you love your home ? 

“ I have none ; and even as a boy I was sent from 
one relation to another. Books are my only friends 
now.’^ 

I am sorry,” said Claudea, simply. Here every- 
one is our friend, and one cannot be lonely in our 
island, even though Sezerina says so. The birds and 
the waves are always talking.” 

Claudea's mind was cast in a naturally poetic mould. 
The life she had lived had much increased her inborn 
artistic tendencies, so that her love of all the living 
things around her seemed to have become second 
nature. Herbert had never dreamt or expected to 
find such a character among one of Claudea’s class, 
and he was extremely astonished. What Gina had 
expressed from hearing it said around her, and with- 
out really feeling it, Claudea both felt and expressed 
in simple words. It was her life. He noted the free, 
graceful motion of her step. She walked as one 
accustomed to untiring exercise and without apparent 
effort. She wore a short skirt of native linsey which 
showed her neat ankles. Herbert had never before 
noticed the poetry of motion in a woman’s walk un- 
fettered by the trammels of fashionable skirts, and 
the sight taught him a lesson of art he little expected 
to learn here. The three walked on in silence for 
some time. Dumb Davy keeping close beside Claudea, 
much as if he were a faithful dog following at his 
master’s heels. After a time Claudea did not seem 


46 


claudea’s island. 


to be aware of Herbert Ravenscroft's presence, and 
in truth she was going over in her own mind all the 
events of the previous day. Her heart was heavy at 
the thought of Teilo’s revelation and of Morgan's 
fierce anger. She wanted to ask someone’s advice, 
but to whom could she turn } . They ascended the 
brow of the hill beyond the old church, and then 
walked a mile further on the flat road leading to the 
Forth. Every now and then Claudea shaded her 
eyes and looked steadily towards the distant horizon. 

The sea will be all right to-day,” she said at last. 

There are days when even we don’t go over, do we, 
Davy ? ” and she made signs to the boy. 

The mute nodded his assent. 

Here is the cliff path, Mr. Ravenscroft. If you 
look across you will see we have not a minute to 
spare.” 

Herbert gazed in the direction of the sea, but did 
not arrive at this conclusion, knowing nothing of sea 
moods or tides. He, however, saw spread out before 
him a lovely vision of nature — a rock-surrounded bay, 
and beyond a distance of sea inlaid with islands of 
various hues. A little shelving landing-stage had 
been built in the middle of this tiny bay to facili- 
tate the launching of the lifeboat, and here Silvester 
was at this very moment just floating the little ‘‘Sea- 
gull,” which impatiently seesawed on the lapping 
waves. 

“There you are; make haste, Claudea! You are 
none too early. Good afternoon, sir. Excuse my 


TELLING THORDIS. 47 

hurrying you on, but if we can run in with the tide 
at the other end we are safer.” 

“ I could not hurry a stranger,” said Claudea 
quietly. Then laughing and turning towards Herbert 
she added, I usually run down here in half the time 
we have taken to come, but then Dumb Davy and I 
never talk on the road.” 

Herbert felt much amazed. He had been accus- 
tomed to be looked up to as a man of talent, but 
here he seemed to be merely a gentleman who could 
not walk fast. In spite of his answering laugh he 
was a little nettled, nor was he much comforted by 
noting that he was put away at the stern much 
like a bundle of useless cargo, and that the active 
Claudea at once began to manipulate the sails with 
the ease and skill born of long habit. The mute 
busied himself over ropes and sails, and Silvester, 
after casting an eye at various details, in order to 
assert his superior sex, left the two to manage 
alone. 

“ Claudea is well able to do it all,” he said half 
aside, as if to reassure the stranger as to his safety. 

So you mean to stay a little time with us, sir } ” he 
inquired, with the air of perfect politeness which 
Herbert Ravenscroft had noticed the previous eveiir 
ing — a politeness which was courtesy and interest 
combined in its due proportion. 

“ I think that in this lonely spot there must be 
peace, so I mean to stay as long as I can.” 

Silvester smiled. 


48 


claudea’s island. 


“Yes and no. Human nature’s much the same 
everywhere I expect, sir ; but we are quiet enough 
here in the winter. Still there’s always plenty to do, 
and that keeps a man out of the clutches of the 
Devil. Now my brother is at the “ Mermaid,” and he 
thinks himself badly used because father left me at 
the farm yonder. The truth is Morgan and the men 
can’t work together ; they won’t pull with one will ; so 
it’s no use their trying to do it, but Morgan can’t get 
over it. He’s always brooding over it. I tell him 
that anyhow it’s not for long that I’m settled there, 
for father has always said the island is for Claudea 
here when she marries.” 

Herbert looked suddenly at Claudea, who, standing 
up to her full height, was stretching her arms up to 
alter the rope passing through a pulley. The wind 
played with her stray curling meshes of hair, as if 
fighting for the next kiss on her sweet forehead, and 
the colour that made her beauty perfect spread to 
her chin just touching her brown neck. 

“ This girl is more beautiful than any London 
beauty,” said Herbert suddenly to himself, “and she 
has not a shade of self-consciousness. Perhaps even 
she does not know she is beautiful. The man who 
marries her will have a perfectly-formed Hebe for his 
wife ; but most likely it is merely outside charm.” 

The boat danced over the waves and sailed on in 
an oblique direction towards the island, occasionally 
tacking suddenly for a few moments, then bounding 
on again towards its destination. 


TELLING THORDIS. 


49 


“ It’s near two miles from here to the island,” con- 
tinued Silvester, seeing the stranger gazing across the 
channel, “and the two hills you see yonder are over four 
hundred feet above the sea ; otherwise the rest of the 
land is pretty level, but the cliffs all round are steep 
enough. The nearest point to land is only half a 
mile away, but look at that ridge of rocks. They 
look, don’t they, like the teeth of some wild animals 
waiting for their prey ? They come nearly half way 
across, and we call them the Whelps. It’s they that 
help to make this powerful current, sir, and that’s 
where lies the danger of the crossing. It’s never 
smooth near the Whelps, and even in summer-time 
you can hear the sound of the sea breaking over them. 
Round here, when we hear that noise, we say the 
Whelps are howling.” 

“ Then it is full of danger, this pretty bay ? ” said 
Herbert, already conscious of the strong motion of 
the boat. 

“ I should think so ! The whole Sound is full of 
currents and eddies, and there are several sunken 
rocks. It’s like a mill-stream here, and you may very 
easily be carried out to sea. We land close to the 
farm out there where the Whelps begin to jut out. 
Shall I take an oar, Claudea The wind’s getting 
strong. We shall have to row in.” 

“ Let be/’ was the answer. “ We are going splen- 
didly.” Claudea stood up, and her eyes glistened 
with pleasure as she gazed at the island. “ I’ll have 
you in very quickly with this wind.” 

E 


claudea's island. 


50 

''Your sister is unusually clever with a boat,” said 
Herbert, looking admiringly at the girl. 

" Claudea can do most things,” said Silvester, 
smiling. " Father's let her have her own way. 
Morgan says it’s sure to ruin a woman, but Morgan’s 
jealous. I say a woman ought to please herself. 
You needn’t be afraid, sir, Claudea can take you back 
safe enough. But you must see this place at bird- 
nesting time. There’s all sorts come here. At this 
moment there’s only gulls and such like. Look, sir, 
on your right, that’s Wellog Island. There’s enough 
grass there for two sheep, and that’s the Spire which 
rises near it — a sharp rock that. About here we call 
it the Spire, but it’s real name is Bery-rock. On the 
south of our island is the Idol, and out yonder, 
the other side, is the Dean and Canons, a set of 
islands close to each other, where a few sheep can 
feed.” 

Herbert Ravenscroft looked in surprise at this 
wonderful miniature archipelago, forming a long 
irregular line nearly four miles in length, and whose 
islets and lonely rocks were of every shape and 
colour. The Dean and Canons, seven in number, 
just peeped out behind the Nun, and on the biggest 
of them, the Dean, Herbert saw a small lighthouse 
rising picturesquely above the white surf of the 
waves. 

" That must indeed be a lonely situation,” he re- 
marked. 

“ Well, yes. The two Fentons live there, and one 


TELLING THORDIS. 


51 

of them comes over to our farm for provisions, if so be 
he can’t reach the mainland. — Claudea, bring us in on 
the inside of the Whelps, it will be easier for the 
gentleman.” 

The ‘‘Sea-gull ” made a graceful bend, and skirting 
the Whelps, which, indeed, had all the time been kept 
at a respectful distance, the little boat with slight 
heavings, as of a wearied bird, glided into the minia- 
ture break-water formed by the island rocks. 

“ They say there’s remains here of old Druid times,” 
remarked Silvester, “ but it’s difficult to say if that is 
Gospel truth. — Here, Claudea, throw the rope and 
steady the boat.” 

Dumb Davy was now left in charge of the “Sea-gull,” 
and Claudea ran lightly up the rocky steps to the 
farm which nestled just above them. Once on her 
native shore the girl seemed to forget everything but 
her own past longings for home. She ran into the 
dwelling-room, gave orders to get some tea ready for 
the stranger; then going through the back regions she 
hurried on to visit the sick cow and the other pets of the 
homestead. That done, she called out that she would 
be ready to return in an hour ; then plunging into the 
dead fern and grassy slopes she began to ascend the 
hill. 

It did not take more than a quarter of an hour to 
reach the summit, which was marked by a ship’s colos- 
sal figure-head. It represented a woman down to her 
knees, carved in wood and then painted. It had been 
placed against a cairn of stones, and thus sheltered by 


52 


claudea’s island. 


this rude altar the figure seemed to gaze ever across 
the sea towards the mainland. 

No one knew its history or how it came there. 
Doubtless some sailors must have saved it from a 
wreck, and then placed this ancient image in her 
present position. Rude as was the carving and 
painting, it showed great artistic power and simple 
strength. The lines were free, and the impassive face 
handsome and mysterious. A look of calm pride had 
been so well impressed upon the face that it was 
unmistakable, and inspired admiration and respect 
for the unknown sculptor. He had certainly realized 
his ideal as he had fashioned this woman with her 
sphinx-like calmness and impassive scorn of base 
things. 

It must be owned that on the island many super- 
stitions had gathered round this figure. On one of 
the folds of her loose garment gathered in at her waist 
was cut in rude character “ Thordis,*' and without own- 
ing it to anyone Thordis was the love of Claudea’s 
youthful days. She had had no dolls and few play- 
fellows, but had made Thordis her companion. Year 
by year the child had measured herself by Thordis to 
see if she were growing quickly. She had told Thordis 
her youthful sorrows and her secret joys, and she had 
tried to clasp her small hands round the neck of Thordis 
by climbing up the perilous cairn. She loved this 
Thordis passionately, and with all the strength of her 
young heart. One great arm of the carved figure was 
lifted, the hand supporting the cheek, whilst the other 


TELLING THORDIS. 


S3 


was placed across her breast. Her bosom, half bare, 
was crossed by the rude folds of her vesture, and round 
her waist was a girdle hanging stiffly down by the 
still stiffer folds. To Claudea, however, Thordis was 
the embodiment of all female beauty, and the silent 
comforter of all sorrow-laden folk. To-day, after 
gazing over the sea for a long time in deep silence, 
the girl threw herself down upon the soft withering 
ferns which hid the grassy mounds of the rabbits. 
Then creeping close to the huge folds of Thordis' 
dress, with a sudden impulse she sobbed forth, ** Oh, 
Thordis, Thordis, what shall I do ? what shall I do ? 
He loves me — and I — I don't know what to say." 

At this moment Herbert Ravenscroft had reached 
the cairn unnoticed and unheard. The girl's sobs and 
her bitter cry for help at the foot of the strange 
carving filled him with surprise, yet it fitted in with 
the beauty of the scene and its strange desolation. 
In silent sympathy for the sorrow of a fellow-creature 
he quickly retreated, and making a detour at the 
bottom of the hill he was seen no more till he found 
his way to the landing-place, where Claudea was 
quietly waiting for him in the boat ready to sail back 
to the mainland. 







CHAPTER V. 

A PROMISE. 

** There’s a world of capability 
For joy spread round about us, meant for us, 

Inviting.” 

ESTWARD the sunset was painting a 
wondrous picture of unearthly beauty. 
Long ribbons of red were stretched across 
the western sky, alternating with bands of 
gold, orange, and primrose. All the most westernly 
islets seemed to be floating in waves of crimson and 
ochre, whilst the moon and a few faint stars began to 
rival in beauty the after-glories of the departing sun. 
Claudea and Dumb Davy had hauled down the sails 
and furled them closely ; then each taking a pair of 
oars they skilfully steered clear of the last cruel teeth 
of the Whelps as they made straight for the opening 
of the Forth. The young man sat back silently 
against the cushioned corner, and feasted his eyes on 
the beauty of the scene, scarcely believing that a week 
ago he had been saying good-bye to Gina and believing 
that all life was ended for him. This exquisite beauty 
of nature was better than even his beloved books ; 
those silent friends could not present to him such 




A PROMISE. 


55 


palpitating colour, such exquisite tones, as did this 
wild nature, so lavish of her gifts to- the just and to 
the unjust. Looking opposite to him Herbert fancied 
that Claudea was like some ancient sea-nymph dis- 
guised in rough garments, who had risen from the waves 
to row him to a shore of safety after his experience of 
much turmoil, whilst Dumb Davy was to his imagina- 
tion more like an evil gnome than a human being. 

Claudea had been too much engaged in guiding the 
boat safely to shore to take any notice of the stranger, 
but as they entered the calmer water of Portii Caerog 
she turned her eyes towards him, and her spirit seemed 
to return from its wanderings. Their eyes met and 
she smiled — that extraordinary vivid smile which 
Herbert had never seen before on a woman’s face. 
The contrast between this smile and the sobs he had 
heard by the old figure-head struck him forcibly. 
After all, was life as simple down here in this out-of- 
the-way place as he had imagined it would be } 

** I hope you have not been anxious about the safety 
of the boat, Mr. Ravenscroft You see that Dumb 
Davy and myself are well accustomed to the water.” 

“Indeed, I have been marvelling at your skill, Miss 
Claudea.” Herbert put the right accent upon the 
word, and this pronunciation seerned to him to have 
in it a sweet and fascinating sound. 

“ Oh, anyone can do it with use and attention, you 
know. I was always fond of the water. I made a 
wager once I would go over alone, but father forbade 
it. I expect it might be a little unsafe, but I brought 


56 claudea’s island. 

up Dumb Davy to understand everything I want of 
him” 

‘‘ How does he understand you so well ?” 

‘^Oh, it’s a language of signs. We can say almost 
anything, but it would take too long to teach you.” 
Claudea smiled. “ Besides you come from London, 
don’t you ? ” 

Yes.” 

suppose it’s a wonderful place; but I would 
rather live on our island. Look at that bird. It’s a 
falcon. They say it’s rare, but this one has been 
about here some time. Well, if I were in London I 
should feel like that bird put into a cage.” 

‘‘You would like it perhaps after a time ; girls seem 
to like the noise and bustle of it, and if they are 
pretty they like all the admiration they get. But 
still I think that in your case it would take you some 
time to get accustomed to that sort of life.” 

“Oh, I should die, just die,” said Claudea, with one 
of her rare smiles. “ Here we are. Did Silvy give 
you some tea } Betty is a rare maker of bread and 
butter.” 

“Why didn’t you join us. Miss Claudea.^ Indeed, 
the meal I had was excellent.” 

“I couldn’t leave the hill,” she said simply. “But 
look. Dumb Davy is getting impatient for his tea. If 
you will step out, we will haul up the boat.” 

Herbert could not allow a woman to work whilst 
he stood idly by, so he immediately gave a helping 
hand, though he noted Claudea’s little smile of scorn 


A PROMISE. 


57 


at Ill's evident awkwardness. He was again nettled, 
but said nothing. When all was put straight, the trio 
ascended the clifif path, at the top of which Dumb 
Davy asked to accompany his mistress home. 

'' No, no,” she said ; youh'e cold and hungry, Davy, 
and look, your mother is waiting for you.” With true 
politeness Claudea spoke the words at the same time 
that she used the signs. 

Then she and Herbert began their walk home to 
St. Castell along the high road opening on all sides 
into lanes and tracks, whilst around could be seen 
the glow of the evening sky still casting lovely lights 
around the departing day. 

“ it is very beautiful along these lanes,” said 
Herbert, after a long silence, during which his com- 
panion seemed quite wrapped up in her own thoughts. 

How exquisite Cam Slymridge looks with its strange 
jagged outline! Do you ever climb up there? It 
must be some little way from St. Castell ?” 

‘‘Yes, you can get a lovely view from the top of it. 
Teilo Price and Sezerina his sister — you saw her last 
night — we three often went up there when we were 
children, and we used to race to the top ; but it's not 
such an easy climb as it looks, especially on a windy 
day.” 

Herbert felt at once, though he scarcely knew why, 
that Teilo Price must be the cause of Claudea's sorrow. 
The story began to interest him, and he thought less 
of Gina that evening after he had taken down his 
book and his writing materials from the shelf. Claudea 


58 


claudea’s island. 


seemed to him to be such a new creation, a woman of 
whom he had no previous knowledge, and he had no 
niche for her among the restricted ideas he entertained 
about women in the abstract. She was, he thought, 
too good to marry a common man, and then he 
smiled at the idea of this free, original being appear- 
ing in a London drawing-room ! Well, all such ideas 
were now nothing to him, and he dismissed the 
speculations, only wondering whether he should stay 
long enough at St. Castell to see Claudea the wife of 
her rustic lover, or whether this bird were too wild to 
be caged even by one of her own species. He was 
engaged in writing an article on “the inability of 
human nature to remain true to an idea.” He meant 
to use Gina's various states of feeling and mind as the 
basis of his argument, and this evening by so doing 
he brought on a useless fit of regret which lasted far 
on into the silent night. The Dewis family, on the 
contrary, were all unromantically busy in their various 
ways, so that it was only Claudea who was able to go 
to the evening service in the old church, where 
to-night Mr. Hathaw.ay, the rector, officiated, and 
preached to about six worshippers. 

When Claudea stepped out again into the moon- 
light she saw a tall form waiting for her outside the 
church door. It was Teilo. 

“ Claudea,” he said, “ I heard you had gone to 
church, so I followed you, and I’ve been waiting for 
you some time. I want to walk home with you if 
you will let me. Come across here,” and he led the 


A PROMISE. 


59 


way past the west end of the building and over the 
little bridge which crossed a rivulet, and round by the 
old grey walls and monastic ruins. Further on, this 
path led into the village by a longer way, following 
which one had to climb a steep field path, and to get 
over two tall stiles. 

‘‘They’ll be waiting supper at home,” said Claudea, 
hesitating a minute before following Teilo. 

“Well, then, let them wait just for once. Listen, 
Claudea, I have come to tell you that yesterday I — 
I — ” he paused, “ I sinned against the higher call. I 
am no longer worthy to teach others. Morgan roused 
all the old Adam within me, and I gave place to the 
Devil. I must give it up, Claudea.” 

“ Morgan is very cruel,” said the girl slowly. “ He 
has never loved me. He did it to anger me, but I 
don’t see why you should give up your duty so easily. 
But you must do what you think is right, Teilo.” 

“ I must wait and see. You won’t help me, or give 
me any hope for the future, will you ? Besides, 
Morgan will do me harm if he can. No, I see I’m 
not worthy yet to labour in the vineyard. I had best 
take to the mill, as my father wishes me to do. In 
that case, Claudea ” 

Claudea felt a chill of disappointment. Yesterday 
the idea of Teilo’s becoming a preacher had sounded 
very self-denying conduct on his part ; to-day it 
seemed somewhat tame of him to give it up so easily, 
and yet if he became a preacher she knew that her 
father would never consent to a marriage between 


6o 


claudea’s island. 


them. She recognized the fact that in her heart she 
wished the possibility of a marriage with him to be 
taken away from her personal choice. 

“ We had best say nothing about the future,” she 
said, laughing. Tm happy enough without thinking 
of it ; and then, too. I’m over young for marrying, 
mother will tell you so.” 

“But look here, Claudea, IVe thought of it all 
night. I know now that even if I became a preacher, 
the thought of you would come between me and the 
saving of poor souls. I shall be useless, quite useless, 
if you won’t say ‘ yes.’ If you care, your father will 
never hold out. I am sure of that.” 

Claudea looked up at the tall handsome man who 
towered above her. His keen, smooth face and dark 
eyes were very sad, and his lips tightly pressed together. 

“ Father is very determined at times, and your 
father and he aren’t the best of friends, you know, 
Teilo. If father says ^ no' why he means no. Do you 
know that I’ve been to the island to-day ? ” 

“ With Silvester and that stranger — Sezerina told 
me so. Who is he, and what does he mean to do 
here } ” Teilo spoke quickly. He felt as if anyone 
who was with Claudea must admire her. There was 
that possible danger even with strangers. 

“I don’t know. He is a man who wants quiet for 
writing books, I think — an author. But I fancy he has 
had some trouble, poor man. One thing I’m sure of— he’s 
very ignorant about out-of-door things, and he couldn’t 
manage a boat at all,” and Claudea laughed heartily. 


A PROMISE. 


6l 


He’ll be going soon, I suppose/’ said Teilo, look- 
ing glum. 

“ I don’t know, but he is able to pay handsomely, 
mother says, and he is very kind and thoughtful. 
We all like him.” 

They had reached the first stile, and Teilo, vaulting 
over, offered his hand to Claudea, who rejected it. 

^‘.Why, Teilo, I’ve not turned into a town miss, 
even if I have been with a London gentleman.” 

‘^You’re very proud and independent, Claudea. 
I had better go away altogether, if — if ” 

‘^You don’t seem to know your own mind, Teilo 
dear. I’m afraid you’ll be changing it very soon 
again.” 

“ No, I shall not change my mind if you will give 
me a promise.” 

“ Anyhow I’m not going to become engaged to 
anyone, Teilo, and Morgan says I’m so young and 
unfeeling. Perhaps I am.” The clear soft laugh 
that accompanied these words made Teilo angry. 

You do not understand me, Claudea ; you are too 
young to care about the things of God. I had best 
give you up, and keep to my intention of becoming a 
preacher.” 

The two had reached the second stile, which was 
close to the side street, and not two minutes’ walk 
from the ‘‘ Mermaid.” They instinctively turned 
round and gazed at the old church lying at their feet, 
and now bathed in moonlight, whilst beyond was 
the dark outline of Cam Slymridge, and on the left 


62 claudea’s island. 

the line of distant sea. Suddenly Claudea turned 
round. 

“ Oh, Teilo, don't be angry with me. It is all new 
to me. I don’t understand it. Your love frightens 
me ; it seems so strange, so — so — I can’t find any 
answer in my heart. How can I explain myself.^ 
You seem to be dividing your heart between me and 
God. There’ll be’ harm come of it, Teilo. Give me 
up till you know. Ask God to tell you. We don’t 
think alike — you see that. Your grave, serious 
religion frightens me, but I know you are good, I 
know it. You are not like Morgan, but you do not 
understand my love for the island. You would 
think me foolish, and you would want to go all about 
far away on the mainland and preach to the poor. 
That seems a noble work, but it wants all your heart, 
I am sure it does. I should be jealous of your work ; 
and then, oh, Teilo, suppose I could not make you 
happy. You have such grand ideas, and I — I just 
want to be happy and to see father and mother look- 
ing happy. I’m not fit to be your wife ; indeed I 
am not, if you could believe it.” 

Claudea paused, and then she clasped her small, 
strong hands on Teilo’s arm. 

He silently unclasped them, and held her right 
hand in his powerful grasp. 

“I see it all, Claudea. I see it as you do. Your 
woman’s instinct goes straight to the point — the point 
which it has taken me a long time to reach ; but, my 
darling, I can’t give up the thought of you. The 


A PROMISE. 


63 


ambition of my life has been that some day you would 
be proud of me when — — '' He broke off abruptly. 

‘‘ Look at the clouds sweeping over the face of the 
moon, Teilo. I should be like that to you. I should 
dim your light. Oh, you are strong, and you speak so 
well. The poor will hear you, and you will do a' great 
work. Don’t you remember how you always said you 
should become famous ? When you were only a boy 
you said so. Don’t let me prevent that — because ” 

‘‘Because you don’t love me, Claudea. You love 
only sunshine.” 

“I do love you, dear old Teilo; I love you as a 
brother — but the other love — it hasn’t come yet, dear. 
I know it hasn’t. Don’t scold me. To-day I went 
and told Thordis all about it, and when I was there I 
saw it all clearly just as I’ve told you. I saw you 
longing for a more exciting life than you can get here, 
and just pulling at the bridle that held you back. I 
saw that your love for me is only the old protecting 
feeling, but you love the higher life better. Let me 
be your sister. Don’t go back from your first idea. 
Father doesn’t hold by preaching as you Methodists 
hold by it, but I don’t know — I am sure you want to 
do them good, Teilo. You won’t be happy with only 
your own or my happiness.” 

“ It’s just because you do understand me, Claudea, 
that I know you ought to be my wife. You are not 
like Sezerina ; you know what the longing for souls 
means.” 

“Poor Teilo,” she half whispered. “Listen, dear 


64 


claudea’s island. 


friend, will you wait a year and see ? I shall know my 
own mind by then, and you will see if— the call does 
not mean that you must forsake all — yes, all, father, 
mother, and wife, for Christ’s sake. You have often 
said that was the real meaning of Christianity.” 

“ A year ! But suppose in the meanwhile you see 
others, and perhaps love someone else. A year is a 
long time.” 

Claudea smiled. A weight seemed lifted^ from her 

mind ; she didn’t want to hurt Teilo, and yet 

A year goes so quickly. You will go out into the 
country, Teilo dear, and you will, as you put it, turn 
many to righteousness. Oh, I know you will ; and 
then — perhaps after that time you will see whether 
you even care to sit at home with me in our island 
farm and listen to all the sounds of the sea and the 
wild birds calling to each other.” 

But you forget about Morgan. I have deeply 
repented of that exhibition of temper. It’s the devil 
that gets the better of us at times you know, and then 
the fight is difficult.” 

“You and Morgan frightened me. Oh, promise me 
you won’t cross his path again. I’ll tell him that we 
are not going to get married.” 

“Look, Claudea, there he goes!” said Teilo, hastily, 
pointing out a solitary figure on the eastern side of 
the town. 

“ Why, it’s strange,” said the girl, smiling, “ one 
would say that he is going towards the mill. Anyhow, 
Teilo dear, you can come home to supper with us, and 


A Momise. 65 

let the past be buried. On Christmas Day next year 
we shall both know our minds.” 

‘‘ Then Til speak to Mr. Smallwood, Claudea, and 
see if he will let me . work, but I must feel you will be 
true to me, or ” 

Why not ? If I can't say ‘yes' to you, Teilo, it's 
not because I love anyone else, only I feel we shouldn't 
be happy together. You wouldn't understand my 
longings, and I — well. I've said it all before. Let's be 
friends now, at all events. I wish you felt happy just 
to be alive, as I do. I want to open my arms wide, 
and take in more of the beautiful life.” 

“You have much to learn yet, Claudea. God does 
not give us this life for the enjoyment of mere happi- 
ness. He gives us pain, so that we may wish for a 
better world. He gives us suffering, so that the reward 
may be greater in the end.” 

“Does He, does He.? but Teilo, I don't want pain, 
even if I am to have, as you say, a brighter crown 
afterwards. No, I don't. I'm not converted, I fear.” 

The sweet smile was lost on Teilo, and he walked 
hastily towards the “ Mermaid.” 

“ I’ll not come in to-night,” he said, holding her 
hand a moment as they stood in the shadow of the 
doorway, and saw the old village cross standing erect 
on its flight of stone steps and drawn out darkly 
against the evening sky ; “ I shall pray that you may 
be converted, dear Claudea, and then ” 

“ No, no, don’t, Teilo. Don’t ask that I may have 
sorrow ; I want joy.” 


F 



CHAPTER VI. 

PAST EXPERIENCES. 

“ Why hast thou opened that forbidden door 
F rom which I ever flee ? 

O vanished joy ! O Love that art no more, 

Let my vexed spirit be ! ” 

ORGAN DEWIS went about all that 
winter and spring as if chained to an evil 
demon of jealousy and hatred. He hated 
Teilo because Teilo was a handsome, 
eloquent man, with a power of making people listen 
to him and respect him; further he hated him because 
on that Christmas Eve he had fought with him and 
had been overmastered by him. He hated him, too, 
because he loved Claudea, and Claudea had always, 
as Morgan thought, stolen his father’s love from him. 
With this hatred of Teilo came the hatred of his own 
brother. At first it had been a poor impotent jealousy, 
but on that Christmas Eve Silvester had laughed at 
him, and the huge pile of hatred which he had been 
building up for years, stick by stick, injury by injury, 
as he deemed it, was now ready for the match to be 
set to it. That match had been Silvester’s laughter 
at seeing Morgan’s deplorable appearance as he shook 



PAST EXPERIENCES. 


67 


himself free from the mud of the pond. Silvester and 
Teilo were, in Morgan’s estimation, from henceforth 
his bitter enemies, and the brooding hatred grew and 
grew till it filled up his whole soul. Outwardly his 
life at the “ Mermaid ” went on very uneventfully, 
The farm attached to the inn gave much work to both 
Martin Dewis and his son. He had also to see after 
the few stray visitors who came there, and the farmers 
who on Wednesdays and Saturdays always had a 
meal in the parlour of the “ Mermaid.” It was only 
during the long evenings that Morgan had time to 
nurse his evil passion and to brood over some plan of 
revenge. The merry, good-tempered Silvester was 
quite unconscious of Morgan’s new hatred. His 
brother had always been surly and morose, so that he 
and Claudea had become accustomed to his short 
answers and ill-tempered frowns. On his side, Silvester 
was, of course, so much occupied on the island farm 
that he came over only on business, and would hurry 
back when that business was done. As for Claudea, 
she, tqo, led a busy life, and only very occasionally 
could she escape with Dumb Davy to her beloved 
island. Mr. Ravenscroft’s wants had to be attended 
to. His tastes were simple, certainly, and he gave very 
little trouble, but Claudea never willingly waited upon 
him herself. A certain pride of race made her shrink 
from this, but it so happened that at the end of 
January the servant girl fell ill, and then, to spare her 
mother, Claudea often went up to set the table and 
to wait on Mr. Ravenscroft, who had now plunged 


68 


claudea’s island. 


into literary work with savage ardour in order the 
better to drive away the image of Gina. Herbert did 
not like the change of attendant. He felt that 
Claudea waited on him with evident reluctance, and, 
besides, he also felt bound to be civil to her. This 
made him rather impatient, and several times he asked 
anxiously when Martha would be well enough to 
come back. On her side, Claudea looked upon Her- 
bert Ravenscroft as a proud Londoner, for since that 
day on the island he had kept strictly to himself, and 
it was at last only an accident that made the two 
better acquainted. He had often thought of the scene 
near the old figurehead, but sometimes seeing Claudea 
tripping about on household errands or hearing her 
sweet voice singing some quaint song, he would 
wonder if Teilo were worthy of this girl, or if he at all 
understood her. Did she return the affection, and had 
she a deeper self than appeared on the surface ‘‘She 
is a woman,'’ he thought, coupling her with Gina ; “ she 
cannot be constant. Can she even love ? Probably 
not.” Men and women have been studying each 
other ever since the world began, but they have 
progressed very little in this special knowledge. “Is 
this primitive girl worth more than Gina, or less?’’ 
Herbert asked himself, “ Has education improved 
upon the original stock, I doubt it.” 

It was a lovely February day. The sunshine was 
brilliant. The birds were all awakening from their 
winter silence, and the grass was listening to the foot- 
steps of spring, as the author, looking up from his 


PAST EXPERIENCES. 


69 


work, gazed across the village street and caught a 
glimpse of the sparkling sea. At this moment some- 
one knocked at the door, and Claudea entered. 

Am I disturbing you, Mr. Ravenscroft ? But 
mother sent me to say that Silvester had come over, 
and that he was going back at once, and would you 
like to have another trip to the island ? It is so fine 
and warm that there’s hardly a ripple ; so if you like 
we can have a long day out yonder.” 

Claudea’s eyes sparkled, and Herbert thought he 
had never seen anything as charming as the happi- 
ness written so plainly on her beautiful face. Was 
that the answer to the problem ? Woman was merely 
the outward manifestation of happiness. That was 
her only mission. 

Are you going too. Miss Claudea ?” 

“Yes, there is not much to do to-day. Yes, I must 
go. I don’t seem to be quite alive if I haven’t run up 
one of our hills at least once a month.” 

“ That is certainly a form of home-sickness,” said 
Herbert, smiling. “ I suppose I shall suffer from it 
some day, and I shall want to feel the London pave- 
ments under my feet” 

“Oh!” exclaimed Claudea, “but make haste, Mr. 
Ravenscroft; the tide does not wait for London 
gentlemen.” 

“ It is such a fine warm day I shall bring some 
sketching materials.” 

“ Do you paint ? ” said Claudea, in a voice of great 
admiration. 


70 


claudea’s island. 


" At one time I thought I should be an artist, but 
there is a great gulf between the amateur artist and 
the professional.” 

Claudea disappeared without waiting to know the 
difference, and promising to meet Mr. Ravenscroft at 
the Forth, she hastened away. 

Herbert felt now that the spring had indeed 
arrived. The very air seemed to whisper it all round 
him, the birds to sing it, the early snowdrops to 
herald forth other flowers, and the great bunches of 
blue hepaticas in the border of the “Mermaid” 
garden seemed to rejoice at the disappearance of the 
cold wintry days. Herbert knew his way everywhere 
now. He had explored many of the little porths and 
headlands. He had visited distant villages, and knew 
many of the outlying farmhouses. The solitude 
seemed to have done him good. The image of Gina 
was becoming decidedly fainter, and his literary 
ambition was reawakening, for soon after her deser- 
tion nothing seemed to him of any consequence. 
Life was one vast dreary desert, and the horizon 
nothing but grey clouds. 

To-day, as he walked along the high road, he heard 
a step behind him, and noticed the figure of Morgan 
Dewis quickly overtaking him. He was carrying 
some nets, and certainly looked exceedingly gloomy. 
Herbert had not up to this time exchanged many 
words with him, but now the idea seized him that he 
might get some information about Claudea out of 
him, so as he came up Herbert joined him. 


PAST EXPERIENCES. 71 

“ Are you going over to the island with us ? ” he 
asked, in order to begin the conversation. 

“ No,^’ replied Morgan, looking at Herbert from 
under his eyelids. '‘These nets are wanted, and my 
father said I was to take them down. Silvester and 
Claudea forgot them.” 

" Your sister is very clever ; she seems to be able to 
do everything ; but I expect you will be losing her 
some day.” 

Morgan looked up. 

" The sooner she goes the better. Girls are slip- 
pery things ; they never know their own mind.” 

" I fancy she has already a lover,” said Herbert, 
smiling. 

“ Teilo Price, you mean. No, he'll never marry 
Claudea.” 

" Why not, if they love each other } ” 

" He’s a Methodist. Father will never let Claudea 
marry a Methodist. Besides, she doesn’t care about 
him.” 

" She doesn’t care about him ? ” 

" No, Claudea doesn’t love anyone as much as she 
loves the island and father.” 

“ But this Teilo Price cares about her ? ” 

" He’s a canting, conceited fool. He thinks every- 
one must do as he wishes. Even if Claudea loved him, 
he shouldn’t marry my sister.” The tone made Herbert 
look at his companion with a more scrutinizing look. 

“ Evidently you don’t like him,” he replied, 
laughing. 


72 


claudea’s island. 


“ No ; I hate him.'' 

Herbert was sorry he had called forth this answer. 

“ Surely it would be a — a very suitable mar- 
riage." 

“ Claudea doesn’t know her own mind yet, but 
when she finds it out she’ll stick to it like a leech. 
However, she has me to reckon with. She had better 
not make up to Teilo." 

They had by this time reached the cliff, and with- 
out a word Morgan ran down the path, and Herbert 
saw him helping to load the boat below. Silvester 
was there, and Claudea was also giving a helping 
hand. He could see the sun lighting up her shining 
hair, which was simply coiled round her small head. 
He now looked at the girl with new feelings. She 
was not the promised bride of another, and she was 
certainly very beautiful. The liquid look in her dark 
eyes was very uncommon ; it seemed to him as if they 
were formed of deep reflections. The very set of her 
mouth and chin spoke of determination. There was 
a certain power about the girl which was very attrac- 
tive after Gina's soft and false sweetness. A woman 
who was firm and constant seemed a strange anomaly 
to this wearied man. 

“ I hope I have not kept the tide waiting ? " he 
said, laughing, as he came up. 

“No, but we must not linger any longer. Are you 
coming, Morgan } " 

“ I haven't hours to waste as you have. Another 
time, Silvester, you can do your own business your 


PAST EXPERIENCES. 73 

self,” and Morgan strode ofif. Claudea smiled as she 
saw Silvester’s frowns. 

“ Never mind, Silvy ; it’s one of Morgan’s bad 
days. Poor fellow, why does the sun never shine for 
him ? ” 

He puts it out,” said Silvester, pushing the 
boat off. 

And now Herbert resigned himself to the joy of 
motion. Everything was exquisitely beautiful. The 
sails gently swelled as the breeze kissed their white 
bosoms and caused the boat to sway and to dip side- 
ways into the uprising waves. On her side, Claudea 
had resigned the boat to her brother and Dumb 
Davy, and sitting down near to Herbert they without 
comment continued their previous conversation. 

'' If I could paint,” she said, I feel that I could 
put down so many thoughts which now I can’t find 
words for. Do you think the souls of some people 
are in a prison, and that they are always knocking at 
the door to be let out Claudea said this so simply 
that Herbert could not imagine she was speaking for 
effect. She herself was evidently conscious of the 
imprisoned soul. 

If you could paint. Miss Claudea, you would have 
to face the same difficulty, this inability to translate 
your feelings into suitable language. I am myself 
always struggling with this inadequate expression.” 

“ I expect you don’t love the things enough,” said 
Claudea, bending over the side of the boat and letting 
the water caress her hand as the ‘‘ Sea-gull ” flew 


74 


claudea’s island. 


almost silently along. Herbert felt somewhat sur- 
prised at her remark. Gina had always looked up to 
him — until, at least, she had becom.e tired of looking — 
and here was this yeoman’s daughter telling him he 
was wanting in reflection and affection. 

“You write books,” she continued, “but you have 
not first lived them, have you ? Look at this sea- 
weed floating close by; it is tossed about all ways 
because of the many currents. It doesn’t know 
whether the Whelps or the mainland rocks will draw 
it backward or forward. It seems to me it’s like that 
with people — yes, many people.” 

She gazed towards the steep cliff rocks of the 
eastern end of the island as if she were seeking for 
some solution of this difficult problem. 

“ Isn’t this the fate of everybody ? But I did not 
know before. Miss Claudea, that you were so much of 
a philosopher.” 

“ I only just try and think it out,” she said simply ; 
“ but since I have been at St. Castell thinking isn’t 
so easy as it was on the island. Out there God 
seemed so near, but at the ‘ Mermaid ’ things are 
very different.” 

The “ Sea-gull ” made a sudden sweep as Silvester 
steered for the inside of the harbour formed by the 
sharp Whelps. Then all at once they sailed into the 
current, and the waves lashed against them and rose 
high in front of them like young sea-monsters at 
play. 

“ There is always troubled water here, apparently,” 


PAST EXPERIENCES. 73 

said Herbert, “and yet we started on such a smooth 
sea.” 

“Teilo Price says that life is meant to be troubled. 
He says beautiful things when he preaches. Have 
you ever heard him ? ” 

“Never; I should like to do so,” said Herbert, 
remembering Morgan’s conversation. 

“ I’ll take you to hear him. There’s a cottage 
meeting at Forth Slymridge to-night. We can turn 
in on our way home. Dumb Davy loves to go to 
meetings, though he can’t hear a word ; but I think 
he understands without hearing.” 

Claudea seemed altogether more agreeable to-day 
than during Herbert’s first visit to the island. When 
they landed, Silvester and Davy at once began to 
unload, whilst she took the visitor to the farm, where 
Betty was busy in household affairs. The island farm 
was a long low building. There was a large sitting- 
room, whose black rafters spoke of antiquity and were 
adorned with smoked hams. One of its windows 
looked towards the mainland, and the other upon 
the island mountain. The great open hearth had 
smouldering logs upon it, and there were several pic- 
tures, chiefly old prints, hung on the wall. A beautiful 
oak press had much old and curious china crowded 
upon its shelves, where also reposed a family Bible, 
“ The Death of Abel,” and Blair’s “ Sermons.” Across 
the passage was the spacious kitchen, with sanded 
floors, and bacon flitches drying near the ceiling. 
The dresser was also full of old delft, which would 


claudea’s island. 




have made an ardent collector turn thief. The oak 
stairs, with a sharp angle half way up, led to the 
sleeping rooms, four in number, and there was much 
carving and a quaint fireplace to be found in each 
apartment. At the back, the farm buildings were 
crowded together and presented somewhat an untidy 
appearance, and that admixture of sea and land 
implements which added originality if not neatness 
to the entire homestead. 

Herbert felt the fascination creeping over him as 
he noted Claudea and Betty quickly preparing a 
simple meal for him. The young girl did the honours 
like a queen ; and when the hot tea and the home- 
cured ham were before them she sat down to share the 
lunch with him, for here she was entertaining her 
own guest. Herbert had often preached equality, but 
for the first time in his life he now experienced its 
real charm. 

He watched Claudea pouring out the tea and 
cutting the home-made bread and butter with quite 
a new feeling of delight at such a pretty vision. 

One is always hungry here,” she said, as Betty 
came and went between the parlour and kitchen. ‘Hf 
you will come with me after your luncheon I will 
show you a beautiful view. Other artists have taken 
it, but not many, for our island is not very often visited.” 

** You will live here, I hear, some day,” said Herbert, 
feeling for the first time the incongruity of this 
thoughtful, beautiful girl living in such isolation. 

‘‘Yes, I shall live here when I am married,” she 


PAST EXPERIENCES. 


77 


said simply, for Claudea had a certain unconven- 
tional directness of thought and speech which made 
Herbert feel himself a hypocrite, though he was 
merely conventional after the approved fashion. 

I have come here because I can’t marry,” he said 
suddenly, anxious to unburden himself. 

Claudea looked at him kindly. She guessed his 
secret at once. 

‘‘ You love someone and cannot marry her ? ” 

“ Yes — I never shall marry her, because she no 
longer loves me.” Herbert’s keen face and sad eyes 
belied his light tone. 

“Do you ” Claudea paused at the very be- 

ginning of her question. 

‘•Well?” 

“ Perhaps I ought not to ask.” 

“ Yes, do. Miss Claudea.” 

“ Do you love her very much ? ” 

The words were so direct that Herbert nearly 
laughed at the idea of some young lady in a London 
drawing-room asking him this question. Besides, the 
very directness of it made him search his heart for the 
answer. Certainly he had loved Gina with all the 
passion of a first love. 

‘'She had a very delicate, very highly educated 
mind, but — Well, I came to St. Castell to get over 
the feeling that life was not worth living without 
her.” 

“ Is that loving a person very much } Life must 
seem always valuable if one really lives!' 


78 


claudea's island. 


“ If you could see her ” 

What was her name ?” said Claudea, smiling. 

I have tried to forget it.” 

I should like to see her and speak to her, poor 
thing. She is sorry now, perhaps.” 

Herbert gazed a little at the speaker. Claudea was 
becoming decidedly interesting, and she certainly said 
very unexpected things. 

What would you say to her ? ” 

“ Oh ! I should ask her what real love is like. She 
has once felt it, and she knew it before it dis- 
appeared. I don’t know if I love anyone really — like 
that, I mean. I love father and mother and Silvester, 
but ” 

“ Teilo Price ? ” 

‘‘Yes, and I love Teilo very, very much. I thought 
he would always be my brother, and he would talk 
to me, for he talks very beautifully. He loves good 
things, oh ! much more than I do. At least he seems 
to. I can’t explain it. But then — I may tell you, 
because you don’t belong to St. Castell — Teilo is a 
Methodist, and we are church-people ; father would 
not like him to marry me. Then Teilo does not love 
the island. He loves preaching ; but isn’t it odd that 
in spite of all his preaching he never made his sister 
Sezerina like chapel-going or Bible-reading in the 
least.?” 

“ She got too much of a good thing,” said Herbert, 
smiling ; then he added, “ but surely your father 
will let you marry the man of your choice.?” 


PAST EXPERIENCESc 


79 


Perhaps ; but I have promised Teilo to wait for a 
year, and the weeks are going fast. I feel miserable 
because I don’t know what I shall say to him. Teilo 
is so good, but — you must love very much indeed to 
say that sentence.” 

“ Say what ? ” 

'' Till death us do part. You know, Mr. Ravenscroft, 
It must mean something very sacred and very beautiful. 
It must mean that you care for a man very much, and 
for his very thoughts and he for. yours. Teilo thinks 
nothing of mine.” 

Herbert smiled at finding himself thus made into 
a father confessor. 

Then my advice is, Miss Claudea, at the end of 
the year say ^no’ — or sooner, if you can.” 

‘‘ That is what is making me unhappy. Teilo is 
working so hard now among the poor. We don’t 
meet often, he is too busy, but when we do, he 
seems to believe I must say ‘yes.’ Sometimes he takes 
possession of my will, and I feel that in the end I shall 
say ‘yes,’ and then I sob myself to sleep when I think 
I have done it. Teilo won’t love the rocks and the 
sea and all the islands and the beautiful clouds as I do, 
and they will forsake me if I do not love them, and they 
won’t whisper their messages any more into my ears.” 

Claudea rose from the table and threw open the 
window, drinking in the spring air as a thirsty man 
drinks a delicious glass of water. 

“ Do you know, Miss Claudea, that you are a born 
poet ? ” 


80 


claudea’s island. 


Claudea turned round and smiled. 

“ Thank you for understanding me. I can speak to 
a stranger, but to no one else. I have no one here 
no one.” 

“But don’t call me a stranger any more,” said 
Herbert gently. 



CHAPTER VII, 

A COTTAGE MEETING. 

“ But true love never yet 
Was thus constrained, it overleaps all fence ; 

Like lightning, with invisible violence, 

Piercing its continents.” 

ORTH SLYMRIDGE has a diminutive 
little opening ; the river that comes from 
the higher tableland twists and turns till 
it reaches the waves, looking much like 
a snake sliding down into the sea. Here it makes a 
little rift between two rocky cliffs, and thus affords 
shelter for small yachts and coaling boats. Half 
across this entrance a former generation had thrown 
a diminutive pier of grey stone and sloping sides, 
but one stormy night the sea, indignant at the pre- 
sumption of man, flung itself against the jetty and 
tore away the middle portion of it, leaving a deso- 
late gap in the stonework. This should certainly 
have been repaired, for the jetty was very useful 
to the fisher-folk. A neighbouring rich man even 
offered the material for the rebuilding if the poor men 
would find the labour. It was a generous offer, but a 
certain spirit of laissez faire was strong in the district of 
St. Castell, and the labour was never forthcoming. So 
G 



82 


claudea’s island. 


the melancholy gap remained to rejoice the hearts of 
the few artists who discovered this hidden-away spot, 
where the tide daily proudly washed through its self- 
made opening, and joined the two ends of the pier by 
a cascade of white foam. Following the minute river 
up above the porth, one passed several small cottages, 
while opposite to them was an old lime-kiln, its white- 
washed tower looking cheerful among the surrounding 
green, and speaking of work and of refining fire in the 
midst of peace. The cottagers did not often walk to St. 
Castell. They became disinclined to exert themselves 
about anything beyond the necessary labour for their 
subsistence. They lost the enthusiasm that comes of 
gregarious life, and adopted strange ideas into their 
slow-working brains — ideas which at times became 
recognized by manifestations of peculiar superstitions 
and idiosyncrasies. It was among these fisher-folk 
and labourers that Teilo Price tried to inspire new 
religious life. He knew that it wanted many stirring 
words to kindle any spark of enthusiasm among 
them ; and he knew, moreover, that neither the St. 
Castell clergy nor the chapel ministers had time or 
inclination to tramp round the country seeking for 
their lost or callous sheep. This evening, as the sun 
was slowly setting in the western sea, Teilo had 
gathered together a little band of the Porth Slym- 
ridge folk in a cottage by the kiln, and standing on a 
low stool, so that all might see as well as hear him, he 
took for his text : “ Submitting ourselves wholly to 
His holy will and pleasure.'’ 


A COTTAGE MEETING. 83 

The preacher’s handsome face and earnest expres- 
sion of countenance never failed to obtain for him at 
least outward attention. The most careless listeners 
felt that he was in earnest, for he had not much to 
gain by thus giving up his time and strength to such 
calm listeners ; therefore, they argued, he must be 
doing it for their sakes and for nothing else. The link 
that failed was, however, the wish to be any other 
than they were, a set of peaceable and lazy fisher-folk, 
going on in quietness, and quite contented with their 
own lot and their own ways. 

‘‘ His holy will, my friends,” said Teilo, raising his 
hand slowly, whilst his eyes seemed to gaze right 
through and beyond the wall of the little cottage, 
and the sound of his voice mingled with the distant 
booming of the incoming tide; ‘^what is it? have 
you ever tried to think what it means ? His holy 
will, so perfect, so full of purpose that even to realize 
it a little makes us give up every worldly advantage 
and leave all and follow Him. How maiiy of us have 
given up, not all, but one small thing for Him ? How 
many of us have tried to conform to that noble 
purpose which created us and brought us into the 
world to fulfil this beautiful will ? 'Thy will be done,’ 
we say, and which of us means to do it ? Did we do 
it yesterday or to-day ? shall we do it to-morrow ? 
How many of us have offered one prayer yesterday 
or to-day, one real heartfelt prayer to Him who 
holds us in the hollow of His hand ?” 

The cottage door opened at this moment, and 


84 


claudea's island. 


Claudea and Herbert Ravenscroft squeezed them- 
selves in and leant against the wall. The preacher’s 
eyes at once noted the newcomers, his hand sank, 
and his voice sounded lower when he continued. 
These were his last words : 

‘‘We must give up all and follow Christ, my friends ; 
give up if necessary our heart’s dearest wish. But let 
the sacrifice be a willing one ; do not keep the wish in 
your heart even when you give up the thing longed- 
for. My friends, the heart is deceitful above aTT 
things ; take away the deceit, tear away the veil that 
hides God from you, and when the veil is torn away, 
you will understand God’s will and God’s j)leasure, 
and they will be yours, one with you because you are 
one with Christ and Christ is one with God.” 

Teilo stepped down from his stool, and there was a 
murmur of approval. The slow minds felt they had 
heard some eloquent words, which seemed to lull 
their minds to an agreeable peace. At this moment, 
and without taking further trouble, they were prepared 
to give up all and follow Christ, that is, if the way led 
along their ordinary daily path. They thought Teilo 
Price was a great preacher, and they wished to thank 
him heartily for his sermon. 

One of the old fishermen at this moment recognized 
Herbert as the gentleman who had wandered one day 
into his cottage, so he came up to him to shake hands 
with him, having no views on the subject of equality 
or inequality, and then he began to pour into Herbert’s 
ears an epitome of his own faith and his dread of Popery, 


A COTTAGE MEETING. 85 

Claudea went from one to the other in her natural 
hearty manner, asking after a rheumatic leg or a 
sick baby, and saying nothing at all about their 
souls. 

'‘Yes, Miss Claudea, it does one good to see your 
face,” said a pale-faced woman. 

Mrs. Smallwood, the minister’s wife, always coupled 
the soul with the baby or the rheumatism, consider- 
ably adding to the sentiment that both were sadly 
troublesome units, requiring strong and unpalatable 
medicine, and sure sooner or later to give trouble to 
the possessor. 

" Miss Claudea, my dear,” said another, "you didn’t 
hear all Teilo Price’s sermon, did you ? It was beautiful, 
as like as possible to lavender as has been put away. 
You know it’s the right thing to have by you, however 
seldom you smell it. Lor, my dear, it’s good to hang 
up in the parlour — the lavender, I mean.” 

Teilo now gently pushed his way through the crowd 
till he reached Claudea’s side, and with a sign he bade 
her follow him. 

" So you came to listen to me, Claudea. Why is 
that man with you ? ” 

" Mr. Ravenscroft has been to the island, and we 
came home this way. He wanted to hear you preach, 
Teilo, but we were late.” 

" Why is he staying so long in these parts ? ” 

" He has come to think things out. He has had 
sorrow. I was glad he heard you speaking about — 
you know, dear Teilo.” 


86 


claudea’s island. 


The young preacher had slowly led the way down 
the path leading to the sea beside the river. The 
waves were washing over the broken pier, and the 
subdued light half illuminated the white cascade of 
foam. At last the two paused, for the path was now 
no longer visible — the rising tide was hiding it. Teilo 
took Claudea’s hand. 

“ Do you see this water, Claudea.^ That is a like- 
ness of my soul. There has been a path-here straight 
and well marked, but the flood has come and hidden 
it. I preach to these poor deaf people, but I don’t 
believe all I say.” 

You don’t believe it ! Oh, Teilo ! ” 

‘‘At times all is dark and hidden. The grace of 
God will not always enlighten the darkness that at 
times can be felt.” 

“By-and-by, Teilo, it will be plain again. You 
have always been so good, so much in earnest. I am 
sure it will be plain.” 

There was a little silence, or rather there were no 
words spoken, but still the waves rolled in, hiding 
more and more of the path, whilst the cascade of foam 
poured more freely over the gap in the grey stonework. 
SuddenlyTeilo seized Claudea’s arm and dragged her 
back, as a huge wave broke into a miniature stream 
at their feet. 

“ If I could save you from the evil of this world as 
easily, dear Claudea.” 

The giiTs beautiful face had flushed, and her hands 
trembled a little. 


A COTTAGE MEETING. 87 

“You mistake some things/’ she said with an effort. 
‘^Oh, Teilo, I’ve been thinking about it, and now I 
know that you and I would never agree. You see too 
much blackness in God’s beautiful world, and I love the 
sunshine. Don’t let us wait till the year is out. The 
feeling that we are both making a mistake makes me 
unhappy.” 

Teilo’s face clouded over. It was like a black rock 
when the white foam has run off it. 

“No, I cannot let you off your promise. A year, 
Claudea; you gave me a year. After that 

Claudea turned round and began walking up the 
glen again. 

“I must go home. Perhaps Mr. Ravenscroft has 
not gone yet. He will not know the shortest way to 
St. Castell.” 

“ Why are you so anxious about him 

“He is our guest, Teilo. That’s all.” 

“By the way,” remarked Teilo after a pause, during 
which the black cloud gradually cleared away, “have 
you seen much of Sezerina lately ? I can’t make her 
out.” 

“Well, no ; you see we are very busy at home just 
now, but she comes down now and then in the evening.” 

“ Does Morgan take her home ? ” 

“Yes, generally.” 

“ Do you think, Claudea, that Morgan cares for my 
sister ? ” 

“ Cares for her ? We all like her, of course. Nothing 
else ! Morgan wouldn’t really care for anyone. At 


88 


claudea's island. 


least, I hope not. His temper gets worse and worse, 
and Sezerina knows it very well.” 

“ Then why does he seek her out ? If he doesn’t 
love her, he should keep away.” 

Claudea laughed. 

“You see everything black, dear Teilo, and you 
who are so good, too. Look, there is Mr. Ravens- 
croft. Come home with us ! ” ^ 

“No, Tm going on to Slymridge Lane; there’s a 
sick child there, and the walk will do me good. 
Good-bye, dear.” 

“ Teilo,” said Claudea, going a step towards him, 
“Teilo, give me back my promise. The chain is too 
tight. I want to be happy. Now when I go to the 
island I feel that the sunlight has gone, the birds do 
not sing for me as they did, and — don’t be angry, I 
know it is fancy, but — Thordis is angry with me.” 

“ You are foolish, Claudea,” he answered impatiently, 
“very foolish. You don’t know your own mind. You 
ought to be glad that I do, and that I love you for 
your own good. No, I won’t give you back your 
word. On Christmas Eve this year you will tell me 
— and I know you will say ‘yes.’” 

Herbert came up at this moment. He had been 
looking all round for Claudea, and someone had at 
last told him she was by the river. He and Teilo 
looked at each other, as both proffered a slight 
greeting. 

“ The people ought to be very grateful to you, Mr. 
Price, for your labours among them. I have been 


A COTTAGE MEETING. 89 

talking to some fishermen who seem to be very well 
disposed.” Herbert smiled as he said this. 

Teilo did not smile back. 

“ It is because you, as a stranger, see only the 
surface. I fear the souls of many of them are dying ; 
some of them will never be awakened.” 

‘‘ That seems a hard doctrine.” 

It is a very hard doctrine for the preacher,” he 
answered in a low voice, “ but it is a true one. I 
have watched the slow deathbed of many a soul 
hereabouts. Good evening, sir ; good night, Claudea. 
I will tell Sezerina you wish to see her.” He 
turned away abruptly, and Claudea, taking the lead, 
walked alone along the narrow river-path, whilst 
Herbert, following, was again struck with admiration 
at the beauty of her light step and the easy grace of 
her bearing. They did not speak for a long time ; 
then all at once Claudea turned round and gazed at 
something in the distance. 

‘‘ Do you see Teilo’s figure on the brow of the 
cliff He is going to visit that child. He is very 
good, very good.” 

“ And he will make you happy. Miss Claudea.” 

No,” she answered slowly. ‘‘ No, that cannot 
be ; I shall never marry Teilo of my own free will.” 

‘‘ Then I hope you will never marry him at all. 
Isn't England a free land } ” 

‘‘ Yes, but Teilo has such power over people ; even 
when he tells them their soul is dead they believe 
him. Mine will die if — if Here is Sezerina.” 


90 


claudea’s island. 


Teilo’s sister came running down the hill to meet 
them, and was soon walking arm in arm with Claudea. 

'' Well, you are long in coming home ; I’ve been 
watching for you half an hour. Just like you, Claudea, 
to dawdle by the way. Now I have some real news 
for you. Do you remember Mr. Stanley, who lodged 
at the mill one summer.^ He’s written to mother to 
say two lady friends of his want to find a quiet 
country spot, and he has suggested our house. They 
will come early in the summer, and they want to take 
all our rooms. That will give us a heap of work, won’t 
it ? but Tm glad, for I’m dull enough at home.” 

‘‘ What is their name ? ” said Claudea dreamily. 

‘‘Mr. Stanley doesn’t say; but he offers us good 
terms. Shall you be staying long, Mr. Ravenscroft ? ” 

“You ask a question I cannot answer,” said Her- 
bert, thinking Sezerina was wonderfully commonplace 
compared to Claudea. “ I feel as if I must stay and 
go on with my sketching, unless some imperative call 
takes me away.” 

“ Let’s look ! ” and when Herbert handed his picture 
to Sezerina, the girl exclaimed, laughing, “ It’s the end 
of the island, and here is Claudea ! Why, it’s just like 
her, sitting down near Thordis in one of her moods.” 

“ Is it like me ? ” said Claudea. “ Anyhow, it’s a 
pretty picture. We met Teilo, and heard the end of 
his preaching. It was very good.” 

“La! Teilo’s got a tongue, but I’m sure I don’t 
know what’s come over him lately ; he’s like turned 
milk. There’s something wrong with /as soul, how- 


A COTTAGE MEETING. 


91 


ever much he talks about mine. His is a religion 
that turns black like silver that’s put away. It 
doesn’t suit me, and so I tell him.” 

'‘Teilo’s better than most. Well, here we are at 
home. I hope you are not weary, Mr. Ravenscroft ? ” 

‘Mt has been a perfect day,” said Herbert. 

When he reached his own room and tried to read, 
he saw nothing but Claudea sailing the “ Sea-gull ” 
home in and out among the reefs and islets. 

I wonder,” he said to himself, “ if she will really 
marry that fanatic Teilo. I hope not — I hope not.” 

Then he paced his room for a long time plunged in 
deep thought. 

‘‘Why shouldn’t I save her from it — why not 
Gina will never love me now — never ; and somehow 
loneliness is a dreadful thing for any man. Why not, 
why not } ” 

The old church clock struck the hour, audit seemed 
to say slowly, “ Why not — why not ? ” 



CHAPTER VIII. 

A NEW INTEREST. 

‘‘ O Time ! who know’st a lenient hand to lay 
Softest on sorrow’s wound, and slowly thence, 

Lulling to sad repose the weary sense, 

The faint pang stealest unperceived away.” 

ERBERT was quite carried away by this 
new idea. He imagined that he would 
educate Claudea to a higher level, or 
rather that he would point out the path 
she should take, for he recognized that the ground was 
already well prepared. She had the true poetic nature, 
which is heaven-sent and cannot be imparted, but 
her gift had after all been only self-cultivated. It 
was so easy for him to lend her books, to put markers 
in the poems which Claudea was to read and^to give 
her opinion about. It was very interesting — that was 
the word he used — to hear her remarks about these 
passages, and the interest became deeper when he 
found she often let fall original ideas which had not 
even struck him before. Herbert allowed himself to 
glide with the stream. He knew there might be 
danger ahead, but future danger veiled with a beautiful 



A NEW INTEREST. 


93 


impossibility does not often count for much, and 
Herbert put it completely away from him. Claudea 
herself seemed suddenly to have opened out like a 
dry tangled sea-weed set floating on a clear pool. 
The delicate fibres all spread themselves out and 
appeared to have imbibed new life. This change 
was so gradual that she was herself almost un- 
conscious of it She only knew that when she 
woke up there was something pleasant to look for- 
ward to. She should see Mr. Ravenscroft some time 
during the day — perhaps on the stairs, perhaps in the 
garden, sometimes by chance at one of the porths. 
She worked harder than ever now, so that she might 
have more time for reading, and perhaps her greatest 
happiness was to sail off to the island with Dumb 
Davy, .,aking a book in her pocket, and seeking a 
sheltered nook behind the rocks overlooking the 
birds’ nurseries, there to read some stirring poetry or 
prose, lulled by the wind and the eternal cries of the 
various sea-gulls, intent on their own love-stories or 
nursery cares. That indeed seemed perfect happi- 
ness, marred only by the feeling that it would soon 
end. 

One day Claudea became conscious of a change in 
her feelings. Always before, she had left her island 
with deep regret, feeling it hard to tear herself away, but 
now the regret seemed almost sweet. There was some- 
thing on the other side of the channel which attracted 
her — she wanted to ask their guest the meaning of 
some sentence, or some line of, perhaps, Milton or 


94 


claudea’s ist.and. 


Wordsworth, for it was the poems of the Lake 
poet which had already before Herbert’s arrival 
strongly attracted her. She could understand easily 
all the links that united him with nature, for it was 
these very bonds which had made her love her island 
solitude before the arrival of Herbert Ravenscroft, 
and it was also this love which had unconsciously 
made her feel lonely among her surroundings. She 
was in the truest sense a child of nature, loving it as 
she loved God, and blending both deep affections 
into one. It was Teilo’s rejection of this love which 
had shown her that she could not willingly marry him, 
for if- she did so it would mean receiving no sym- 
pathy for this strongest part of her nature. Such 
were Claudea’s feelings — feelings which previously she 
could not express, and for which only now was she 
beginning to find a language — a language which books 
and the sympathy of a more highly educated mind 
were quickly giving her. Claudea’s nature was at the 
same time her blessing and her curse, for the more 
man thinks the more he suffers, the more he loves the 
more he will grieve — such must be the tribute to be 
paid for all good gifts. 

Another reason of Claudea’s increasing happiness 
was the absence of Teilo. He had gone to stay at 
Trowford with an uncle twenty miles away, Mr. 
Smallwood, the minister, having given him charge of 
this poor little hamlet, where the resident preacher 
was old and infirm. Teilo’s preaching was to reform 
the place, hnd though he inwardly rebelled at this 


A NEW INTEREST. 


95 


absence from St. Castell, he outwardly remained 
calm, and at once accepted the duty. Sezerina was 
glad, too, when her stern brother disappeared ; she 
was weaving her own little romance, and at present 
found it delightful. She wished to make hay whilst 
the sun was shining, for the visitors were coming in a 
fortnight, and then her mother being busy with the 
mill affairs, Sezerina would have to do all the waiting 
upon them. Gradually Claudea had seen less and 
less of her, not because Sezerina loved her less, but 
because the girl had another object for her spare time. 
So this quick-sighted friend never found out the dream 
which Claudea was dreaming so happily during these 
last June days, and Claudea, who did not realize it 
herself, because she had never loved before, would 
certainly not have revealed it to the chattering maiden 
whose volatile character had in past days often grieved 
her. 

Neither did her parents find it out — how should 
they ? Claudea did her household duties as well as 
before, and if she escaped to the island as often as 
possible, she had always done so — that was nothing 
new. As for books, if Claudea liked reading it was a 
great merit in her, and showed how clever she was. 
Mrs. Dewis at times fancied the child did not sins' 
about the house as much as formerly, but that, too, 
was natural — she had more to do at St Castell than 
ever before in her life. The\long and short of it 
was that, as Morgan said, Claudea had always 
been spoilt to the utmost, and her father never 


96 claudea’s island. 

allowed others to cross her will — but then Claudea had 
a sweet will. 

It was the first day of July, and the month so often 
accused of shedding tears was this year heralded in 
by a lovely cloudless day. Claudea had dedicated it 
to going home. There were several good reasons why 
she should do so. A cow had calved, and old Betty 
wanted Miss Claudea to see the new arrival ; more 
butter was also wanted, for there had been a greater 
number of travellers lately, and her mother had run 
short of the home produce. Then the tide was 
favourable to a long day on the island, and every- 
thing combined to make it imperative for her to go. 

Claudea had to be down at Forth Caerog by ten 
o’clock, so she was up betimes, and when she saw 
Mr. Ravenscroft saunter forth, she ran up to his room 
and arranged his flowers. He did not guess that 
Claudea’s deft fingers always placed these lovely 
nosegays in his room, and she would not have told 
him for the world. Then taking the last volume he 
had given her, a good collection of short love-poems, 
she took leave of her father, who was sunning himself 
in the porch, and hurried off, walking as lightly as if 
her small feet were winged. 

As she walked she opened her small volume, and 
read softly to herself : 

“ Love seeketh not itself to please, 

Nor for itself hath any care, 

But for another gives its ease, 

And builds a heaven in hell’s despair. 


A NEW INTEREST. 

‘‘ So sang a little clod of clay 
Trodden with the cattle’s feet ; 

But a pebble of the brook 
Warbled out these metres meet ; 

“ Love seeketh only Self to please, 

To bind another to its delight, 

Joys in another’s loss of ease, 

And builds a hell in heaven’s despite.” 

She closed the book and slipped it into her 
pocket. What was love ? and was the clod, or was 
the pebble right ? Love should not seek to please 
itself ; no, it was a thing divine. Teilo did not really 
love her ; he loved himself far better. She would not 
love like that ; no, that must be very selfish love, not 
the beautiful thing the poets had written about. 

On the crest of the hill she saw Dumb Davy look- 
ing out for her, and as soon as he caught sight of her 
he ran to meet her. The simple joy of the boy made 
Claudea realize her new ideas. Before now, before 
this year, perhaps this month, she would have wanted 
nothing more ; now she wanted the explanation of the 
poem. Was love selfish or unselfish } She wanted 
to ask the sky, and all the little flowers in the hedges, 
and the many birds that chirped and sang, and flew 
hither and thither, she wanted to ask them what love 
was like. 

'' It's a lovely day, Miss Claudea," said Davy in 
his sign-language ; “ we can run right into the landing- 
place this morning." 

‘‘ And you shall have a good dinner, Davy, and fish 
till it is time to go home." 


u 


98 


claudea’s island. 


They ran down the path together and began get- 
ting the boat ready, but at this moment Herbert 
appeared from behind the rocks which skirted the 
water’s edge. 

“ I thought I heard your voices/’ he said, smiling. 
** Mayn’t I come too ? I want to finish a sketch out 
there?” 

Once before Claudea had said “ yes ” quite hap- 
pily, now she hesitated a moment as if she were shy. 

‘‘You’ll find it better this side of the water than 
the other, Mr. Ravenscroft ; the sun will suit you best 
here.” 

“No, I want the other view. Must I charter a 
boat for myself ? ” 

“ Oh, no, of course not ; that would disgrace our 
house,” she said, laughing. “You know the birds are 
on the wing now, and I must see the nurseries before 
they quite forsake the old cliff.” 

Herbert had learnt a good deal about a boat now ; 
he could help Davy, and he begged Claudea to sit 
still, and only occasionally to give her advice. 

“ You have improved,” she said, smiling. “ I wish I 
had learnt as much from the books you lent me.” 

“ But you have. How do you like my collection ? ” 

“I was bringing it to enjoy it at home,” and she 
nodded towards the island, “but when I am on the 
water that seems enough for me. There’s beauty 
everywhere to-day. I wish I could get some of your 
London poets to come here and see — yes, just see, 
and then ” 


A NEW INTEREST. 


99 


"Then they might write, you think?’' 

" Some of them have seen.” 

Herbert smiled, hardly at what she said, but at 
the beauty of the girl herself. She had stuck a 
bunch of flowers in her dress ; her hat, soft and large, 
was flapped back by the breeze and showed her curling 
hair, whilst her sweet eyes were full of thought and 
feeling. Her lips smiled with the smile of a Guer- 
cino’s Madonna. Herbert had now made up his 
mind. He would ask her a question to-day — a ques- 
tion to which she must answer " yes.” In the mean- 
time, knowing her pride, he behaved as usual, espe- 
cially as Dumb Davy’s eyes were fastened upon him in 
the peculiarly embarrassing manner of deaf mutes. 
For some time Claudea’s gaze was fixed on the distant 
view ; then suddenly a flight of razor-bills flew straight 
close past them, their red beaks making a thin line 
of colour. Then came circling guillemots, or, as 
Claudea called them, " eligugs,” by which name all 
the gull tribes were known at St. Castell, irrespec- 
tive of varieties. 

" Look, did you see, Mr. Ravenscroft, how they 
swept by ? Down here we say they are bringing bad 
’ swiftly on the right side of the 



Claudea spoke quite 


now. 


gravely. 

"What a superstitious speech. Miss Claudea. You 
should have lived in ancient days ; though indeed the 
Middle Ages were not much better than the Roman 
times for belief in oracles and signs,” 


lOO 


claudea’s island. 


‘'One grows up with such things. Teilo says I am 
Wrong, and I don^t really believe it all 

“ Only it influences you ! Perhaps you think we 
may get stranded on the Whelps because this lovely 
flight of razor-bills flew by ? ” 

“Oh, no, no!” exclaimed Claudea, laughing. “I 
shall keep off the Whelps, and I know it is silly. I 
know too, of course, that the birds are only skimming 
the water to find their dinner. Just as the ‘Sea-guir 
shall skim through the waves to-day.” 

“And many times more, I hope,” he said in a low 
voice, but then the “ Sea-gull ” suddenly entered the 
current, and they had to tack in order to pass into 
the narrow opening between the rocks. They had 
had a splendid half-hour’s sail, and Claudea laughed 
with happiness when they entered the port, saying, as 
she shook the salt drops from her brown fingers : 

“Davy will see after the boat, Mr. Ravenscroft ; 
and now that the sun shines so brightly you must 
come and see the gull nurseries. Pll run in and tell 
Betty to get our dinner ready later on. You will 
be content with farm fare, won’t you ^ for Silvester 
now he’s alone takes very little trouble about his 
marketing.” 

They began ascending the rocky ledges that served 
for steps up to the farm, when suddenly Claudea 
paused : 

“ Do you see this stone } It is a tombstone. Once 
there must have been a chapel here, and a special 
burying ground close to it. Here is an inscription. 


A NEW INTEREST. 


lOI 


but it is too much worn out to be read. I like to 
think that these people down below here lie so silent 
and quiet. They must be very happy.” 

“ If the dead know.” 

“ Oh, yes ! of course they know. I used to think of 
them when I lived here, and wonder and wonder ” 

Claudea's voice woke the echoes, and the lonely 
island seemed suddenly to recognize her voice and to 
rejoice, whilst the gulls circled round the farm build- 
ings before flying back to their rocky nurseries. 

The message to Betty was soon given ; then Claudea 
hastily went to visit the sick cow, whilst Herbert 
waited on the crest of the hill, and watched the in- 
coming tide rocking the little ‘‘ Sea-gull ” below, as a 
woman rocks her nursling. 

Finding that Claudea was some time away, Herbert 
walked up a little higher, and seating himself on a 
rock, he was soon lost in a reverie. Waking up after 
a time, he found Claudea sitting not far off, but a little 
higher up. Her face was buried in her hands, and 
she appeared to be crying. What was the matter.^ 
He took two steps, and was by her side in a moment. 

‘‘ Mrss Claudea, Miss Claudea, what is the matter 
for a sob was now plainly heard. 

My poor Blackstar is so ill, oh ! so ill.” 

Herbert breathed again, it was the cow — only the 
cow! 

“I am so sorry.” His sorrow was for Claudea. 

‘‘She knew my voice at once — yes, at once — she 
understands all I say, and oh ! she turned her large 


102 


claudea’s island. 


soft eyes on me as much as to say, ^ Make me well* 
It was so like a human being — so like.” 

am so sorry,” again repeated Herbert. 

“She lies there and moans — yes, moans just as you 
or I might do, and Silvester says it’s no use. She’s 
taken for death. I couldn’t bear it any longer, and I 
came away.” 

“Come higher up,” he said gently, and took her 
hand as if they had been a boy and girl together. 
Claudea obeyed, hardly knowing or realizing it was 
Mr. Ravenscroft who thus led her away. Higher and 
higher, through the fern and heather, following a tiny 
path worn by the sheep. Higher and higher, till 
they reached Thordis, great wide-eyed, calm Thordis, 
who gazed ever out across the sea, and guarded her 
island from profane footsteps. Claudea from force of 
habit sat down at the foot of the figure, her head 
resting against the stiff folds, and Herbert sat down 
beside her. From this place they could see the great 
steep perpendicular rock, on which thousands of gulls 
were sitting, and round which many others flew hither 
and thither in continual circling lines, calling to their 
mates, screaming, fluttering, and all uniting in one 
extraordinary chorus, almost deafening to those un- 
accustomed to this sight and sound. 

Above it all Thordis looked forth calm and passion- 
less. 

Claudea rested her elbows on her knees, and cried 
softly. 

“ She must die — she must die — and she loved me/’ 


A NEW INTEREST. 


103 


*‘Miss Claudea/' he said gently, ‘‘you must be 
comforted. Look at all this life around you, and how 
soon it disappears and is replaced. Why should you 
be so sad about ” 

Claudea stood up suddenly, and a feeling of shyness 
and shame at having been seen to cry overcame her. 
She brushed away her tears, and resting her chin on 
her hand she turned away from him, whilst a deep 
blush spread over her face. 

“ You can’t understand. Forgive me ! To you it is 
only a cow, but to me — I loved her.” She looked up 
at Thordis as if she, at least, could understand her, 
for had she not heard all her secrets from the time she 
could only just toddle up to her ^ 

To Herbert it now seemed as if he were in the 
presence of some superior being. If he had found 
Claudea in grief for the loss of a brother, it would not 
have had the same effect upon him as her deep sorrow 
for the suffering of this dumb creature. This episode 
seemed to take him back in imagination to early 
Greek days, and to a primitive life of greater union 
between man and his beast. 

“ Claudea, don’t cry. Look, I meant to tell you 
before our return that — that you must let me comfort 
you. Will you I cannot bear to see a woman’s 
tears, and much less yours. You cry so seldom, you 
are not like other women. Do you understand me.'^” 
for Claudea did not move or turn towards him. 

“ Oh, no, no ; I don’t^” she said, under her breath. 

“ How can I make you do so ? You know what you 


104 


claudea’s island. 


told me about Teilo ? You know that you said you 
could never care enough for him to answer his ques- 
tion ; well, I ask you the same question. Yes, 
Claudea dear, just the same. Only you don’t know 
me as well as you know him, and you can hardly 
understand how^ ” 

Claudea turned round quickly. Poor child, at that 
moment her eyes were opened, and she knew what 
love meant. The answer had been given to her, and 
her prayer was heard. 

Yes, yes ; I can understand now — I never thought 
I should, but — but — you have made me understand ; 
only ’’ 

‘'Only what, sweetest.?” he said softly, taking her 
hand. 

“ Only, you know, we are different, you and I. We 
have been brought up differently, and you know so 
much and I know so little.” 

“ Indeed, you are wrong. You have a strong, 
original mind, and your nature is beautiful, dearest 
Claudea. You have learnt so much. There is nothing 
you could not learn — but that is of no consequence. 
It’s you yourself I want to love me. I want your 
love in exchange for mine.” 

“ Do you really want mine — mine .? ” said Claudea. 
“You had hers — you told me so, and she took it 
away. Can you want mine .? ” 

“ I do, dearest; I want yours if you will have mine.” 

A lovely flush overspread the brown oval cheeks, 
an exquisite smile of sudden illumination transformed 


A NEW INTEREST. 


lOS 

her from Claudea Dewis into a young goddess — into a 
woman fully entering into the perfection of woman- 
hood ; she now loved for the first time in her life. 

She leant her head against Thordis, and raised one 
arm up to the waist of the great image as she gave 
Herbert her left hand. 

“Yes, you have it — it is yours. I didn't understand 
before, but I do now. It was that which made me so 
happy, and sometimes so unhappy. I can't help it. 
I do love you, but I must not say ‘ yes,’ you know I 
must not, till Christmas Eve.” 

“But if we love each other, darling, what does it 
matter 

“I promised. No, I promised Teilo I would wait, 
and I must.” 

He tried to raise the small brown hand to his lips, 
but she drew it back quickly. 

“ Oh, no ! — what would Thordis think ? '' Then she 
laughed. You know it seems to me as if she saw 
and heard and understood me. She knows I said I 
would wait a year.” 

“ But we may love each other } ” 

‘‘Yes, silently. It will be a sweet secret.” 

“ But, darling, it is foolish to wait. A mere keeping 
of an empty promise.” 

“ I promised,” she said, and shook her head. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE DEATH OF BLACKSTAR. 

“For Love is lord of truth and loyalty, 

Lifting himself out of the lowly dust 
On golden plumes up to the purest sky.” 

ISS CLAUDEA, come at once,” said 
Betty, when the lovers returned to the 
farm, “ the poor thing hasn’t many 
minutes to live.” 

turned pale, and hurried away to where 
Blackstar was lying on the straw of the cow-shed. 
Herbert followed more slowly, and when he arrived 
he saw the young girl kneeling down by the dying 
cow, and calling her many sweet and endearing names. 

“ Poor dear, poor dear ! Oh, Betty, can’t we save 
her ” . 

“No, Miss Claudea; you know Master Silvester 
and me was up all night with her ; nothing can save 
her now.” 

As Claudea’s voice fell on the poor animal’s ears a 
faint look of recognition seemed to come into its eyes^ 
and very slowly the tongue tried to lick the hand 
near to it. It was its last effort ; the eyes never again 



Claudea 


THE DEATH OF BLACKSTAR. 10/ 

recognized anyone, and In a short time poor Black- 
star was no more. 

Claudea burst into tears. Her soul seemed to follow 
the soul of the creature she had known from its birth, 
and it was some time before Herbert was at all able 
to comfort her. 

“Let’s go home,” she said at last. “I must tell 
mother ; she will be very sorry, too. Silvester doesn’t 
feel it as much as we do.” 

Herbert knew he could not understand it either. 
To him it seemed strange that Claudea should be 
sorrowful about anything on this happy day, but he 
would not for the world have said so to her. This 
close intimacy, he knew not what other word to use, 
with the dumb creatures had never appeared possible 
to him, unless it were a dog, or perhaps a horse, but 
he had been too much wrapped up in books to realize 
a great deal that is entirely outside literature. This 
link with another world of living creatures was a new 
revelation to him, as were also many of Claudea’s 
thoughts. Herbert asked himself whether the girl 
whose beauty he loved was not in reality a being 
unknown to him. He reviewed his life, and saw his 
unsympathetic early home with an elderly aunt and a 
severe cousin ; then his creditable college career, and 
his decisio^to find a home for himself in London. 
He had eight hundred a year, which his uncle, a 
banker, looked after, and he himself had but to draw 
cheques. The literary life was engrossing, and there 
seemed every likelihood that Herbert Ravenscroft 


io8 claudea’s island. 

would live out his days as a bachelor ; but then came 
the meeting with the enthusiastic Gina, and for the 
first time the man became really interested in a 
woman. He was honestly in love, and honestly 
miserable when Gina gave him up ; but the ice had 
been broken, and the habit of studying a woman’s 
character and a woman’s face had made him now 
capable of admiring and loving Claudea. Claudea was 
the opposite pole to Gina ; that was why, perhaps, the 
disappointed man fell in love with her ; but, in truth, 
he had not understood either of these girls — the 
highly educated, fickle, fanciful Gina, or the thoughtful, 
wondering Claudea. He was himself not a very 
complex character. Literature with him was a habit, 
not a soul-entrancing occupation. He did not write 
with his life-blood; on the contrary, he wrote well and 
was useful to the magazines, which always accepted 
his articles because they were well written, sensible, 
and not too original. Originality is a commodity 
that does not pay, and Herbert had very little of it ; 
but he gave his best and was contented with his share 
of praise. 

In making an offer to Claudea he suddenly realized 
that he had been very original. What would his 
London friends say, and how would Claudea herseli 
like London life ? The idea of permanently forsaking 
his old circle never crossed his mind, and indeed how 
should it ? Even on this first day he did not dream of 
making the island his future home. 

Claudea had thrown herself against the cushioned 


THE DEATH OF BLACKSTAR. IO9 

seat in the boat, and was letting Dumb Davy manage 
the*sails. The afternoon sun was slowly going down 
in the far west. There was a summer haze over the 
distant islands, and all the mystery of loneliness was 
written on these desolate regions. 

^'Claudea, dear/’ he said gently; don’t be so sad 
— about ” 

Claudea sat up and gazed on the distance. She 
remembered Herbert then, and a troubled expression 
came over her features. 

‘'You can’t understand, Mr. Ravenscroft,” she said 
softly ; “how can you ? You have lived in a town all 
your life, whilst we have had the country, and the 
dumb creatures for our friends. But you will in time ; 
oh ! yes, in time you will understand it. When we live 
in the island you will write and paint, and be so near 
to the birds and all the creatures, and then you will 
understand them.” 

“When we live in the island,” he repeated, thinking 
how beautiful she looked. 

“Yes, on my wedding-day father will give it to me, 
you know.” 

Herbert was silent. He suddenly realized that 
Claudea expected him to live there, on this beautiful 
but desolate island, with its one farmhouse, and its 
endless sea-gulls and razor-bills. His first impulse 
was to say something to refute this idea, but courage 
failed him, and he lost his opportunity, Claudea 
would in the future love him for himself, and would 
follow him anywhere and everywhere. He had not 


no 


claudea’s island. 


asked anything from her but herself, and this inheri- 
tance — this lonely island, and its still more lonely 
farm — were not gifts which he could very highly 
prize. Thus he meditated as the “ Sea-gull ” skimmed 
the waves till she reached the current, when the 
troubled motion began. Claudea, with her hands 
clasped round her knees, gazed sadly at the distance. 
Blackstar's death seemed too great a sorrow to be 
easily forgotten. Herbert noticed that Dumb Davy 
looked at Claudea with eyes full of the deepest 
sympathy, and that now and again the mute hastily 
brushed off a tear with the back of his hard hand. 
He at least could understand and share her sorrow. 

All at once a sudden strong puff of wind swept by 
from the land. The “ Sea-gull ” was not prepared for 
it ; the sail was not shifted quickly enough, and for a 
moment the little boat was swept onward by the 
strong current, dipping so completely on its side that 
Herbert thought every moment they must be upset. 
Claudea started up, and her deft fingers quickly came 
to the rescue, but the sudden pallor of her face spoke 
plainly of her fears. In a few more minutes, by tack- 
ing skilfully, they were out of danger, and Claudea was 
able to speak. 

How stupid I was ! Will you forgive me ? ” she 
said, turning towards Herbert. “ I was thinking only 
of Blackstar, and we might have been upset, or 
swept right on to one of the islands.” 

‘‘ Davy was not careful enough.” 

“Yes, indeed he was. This may happen to anyone. 


THE DEATH OF BLACKSTAR. Ill 

I have seen a boat go down on a sea no rougher than 
this. Do you know, Mr. Ravenscroft, that there have 
been two bad signs to-day } She smiled as she said this. 

Call me Herbert, Claudea dear.” 

She shook her head. 

‘‘ Oh, no, no ; say nothing, nothing till Christmas 
Eve. It must all be hidden within our hearts till 
then. So many wonderful things are hidden till the 
right time comes, and then they burst forth and 
delight us.” 

‘‘ Then don’t talk of omens any more,” said Herbert. 

I want to think of you as far above that sort of thing. 
A belief in ourselves is better than twenty omens.” 

‘‘Yes, much better; but to us island-people every- 
thing seems to whisper its message, and we get ac- 
customed to listening.” 

They walked home togethei in the exquisite soft light 
of the summer afternoon. The shadows lengthened 
as they strolled along the road ; the air was full of the 
scent of hundreds of wild flowers on thyme banks, 
and little birds flitted before them as if daring them 
to follow. A solitary hawk poised itself slowly over 
a field on their right hand, then swooped down upon 
some invisible object with the swiftness of an arrow 
sent forth from a strong bow. To Claudea the scene 
appeared new and very wonderful, for she had begun 
to love. Her newly awakened consciousness made 
all nature seem to wear a new face full of strange 
light, but some of her perfect freedom of mind was 
gone — she knew not whither. 


II2 


claudea’s island. 


'‘Then am I to say nothing, sweetheart ? ” he asked 
softly; "am I to appear deaf and dumb like Davy?" 

" It is safer, better for both ; suppose you change 
your mind ? " she asked, the first fear finding an 
expression in these words. 

"Suppose you also change yours, and find Teilo 
Price a better fellow than I am." 

"Teilo is very, very good — I love him dearly as a 
brother, but he should not have cared for me like 
that. He ought to care only about his preaching.” 

"Man is human, and not yet divine. He wants 
some reward for his hard work.” 

"To forsake all and follow Christ ; that is the truth 
Teilo preaches. Some day he will be glad that I could 
not love him enough, and he will thank me for not 
letting him draw back after he had put his hand to 
the plough.” 

They reached the crest of the hill overlooking St. 
Castell, and Claudea paused. She held out her hand. 

"Good-bye. I must go now to John the weaver, 
and give him a message from Silvester.” 

" Let me come with you,” said Herbert, gazing at 
the soft beauty of her face. Everything about her 
was made lovely by the winged Cupid. 

" No, no. I would rather go alone ; besides, it is out 
of the way, and you will like to get home.” 

Herbert saw that she did not want him to accom- 
pany her ; so he stooped down as he took her hand, 
and was about to give her a kiss, but Claudea again 
drew back hastily — almost proudly. 


THE DEATH OF BLACKSTAR. 


II3 

Oh ! you forgot — we are only lovers/^ 

“All the more reason. Why should you keep me 
at such arm’s length, Claudea ? ” 

“Not that; but aSt.Castellgirldoes not allow herself 
to be kissed in a public way till all the world knows.” 

Before he could say anything else, she had turned 
away, leaving him half angry and half glad at the 
unusual pride and nobility of character in the girl he 
had chosen to be his future wife. 

Claudea in the meanwhile went hastily on her 
way, only recovering by degrees her usual happy walk 
when she was out of hearing of Herbert’s footsteps. 
She was beginning the life of expectancy, which in 
her case she knew must last another six months. It 
was a long time, but perhaps it would quickly fly away. 
She wanted to tell Teilo that she understood now what 
real love meant, but she felt it would be of no use. 
Teilo seldom changed his ideas, even on small matters. 
She must wait patiently, even if Herbert became tired 
of waiting, though surely that cottld not happen. 

Entering a narrow lane bordered with very tall 
hedges, which in these parts had to serve for trees, 
there being but few in this country, excepting those 
surrounding St. Castell, Claudea fancied she heard 
soft voices. Usually she was quite indifferent to all 
passers-by, but to-day she did not want to talk, she 
wanted to enjoy her silence and her thoughts ; so she 
opened a field-gate, and began walking along a narrow 
path on the other side, meaning to clamber over the 
hedge when the owners of the voices had gone by. 


claudea’s island. 


1 14 

Suddenly she recognized the voices as they passed 
her. How could she mistake Sezerina’s little ripple 
and Morgan’s low, deep tones ? What could they be 
doing here now ? When they had gone by, Claudea 
turned back and passed out into the lane again, but 
this time she was behind the speakers. She could 
hardly believe her eyes when she saw Sezerina arm- 
in-arm with Morgan, and leaning her head against 
his shoulder as she walked close beside him. 

Claudea was much astonished. What could it 
mean, and what could Sezerina be doing ? Surely she 
must be out of her mind. She could not love Morgan ! 
Soon they turned a corner, but Claudea had now made 
up her mind. She knew Morgan, and she knew 
Sezerina’s weak, easily-led character. Morgan could 
not be in earnest — he who loved no one but himself, 
and who never spoke of girls with any respect. When 
she reached John the weaver’s farm — a very small 
abode, called a farm by courtesy — she delivered her 
message, and then turned towards the lane leading to 
the mill. Lanes round St. Castell are quite a puzzle to 
the ignorant ; for there is such a complicated network 
of these paths between hedges that it needs a clever 
head to remember which leads soonest, or turns less 
often towards the desired destination. Claudea of 
course knew them too well to hesitate ; so quickly 
choosing the nearest, in twenty minutes she found 
herself opposite the mill. She lifted the latch of the 
dwelling-house, and peeped in. Mrs. Price was clearing 
away some tea-things. 


THE DEATH OF BLACKSTAR. II5 

" Why, it’s you, Claudea, my dear ! come in ; you are 
quite a stranger. But, lor ! child, I thought you were 
Sezerina. I’ve been expecting her for an hour. I don’t 
know what’s happened to the girl since Christmas. 
She’s quite changed, my dear. I tell her so, but she 
only laughs at her old mother. I sometimes wish you 
were my child, Claudea.” 

‘‘ Oh, no, Mrs. Price ; you wouldn’t wish to change 
Sezerina.” 

‘‘Well, my dear, perhaps not; but there’s another 
way of getting my wish. There, don’t blush, I don’t 
mean any harm ; but, of course, a mother’s eyes can 
see plain enough, and I know Teilo’s set on you, 
Claudea. There isn’t such a man anywhere, though I 
say it. But sit down, do, my dear.” 

Claudea sat down dreamily, wondering about many 
things as she said : 

“I’ve been out all day, and I must get home to 
mother, but I thought if Sezerina was here she’d come 
home with me.” 

“ I know she would, if she were here, my dear; 
but can’t you wait.? It’s nice to see your face 
again.” 

Claudea sat down, though she was in a hurry to get 
home. She listened to Mrs. Price’s long grievance 
about her daughter with a patience helped out by 
only hearing half the good woman was saying. 

Suddenly there was a merry laugh heard, and the 
door opened to let in the culprit. 

“ Wherever have you been, Sezerina .? There’s all 


ii6 claudea's island. 

your work left undone, and Teilo is coming home this 
evening.” 

‘‘ I was up at Mr. Smallwood’s, and his daughter 
wanted me. The minister is having company to- 
morrow — a fine set-out, I can tell you. But I am glad 
to see you, Claudea. One can never get a sight of 
you nowadays.” 

ril help you now, if you’ll walk home with me,” 
said Claudea quietly. 

It is a fine evening. I’ll come now ; mother won’t 
mind. Oh, I’ve had my tea, thank you, mother.” 

Claudea could not protest now ; she was too anxious 
to speak at once to her friend, and when they had got 
out of reach of the mill she began : 

‘'What do you mean about being with Miss Small- 
wood, Sezerina ? I saw you half an hour ago walking 
down Thyme Lane.” 

Sezerina blushed scarlet 

" Were you there ? No, now ! I was coming back 
from the minister’s house, and I met Morgan.” 

Claudea drew herself up to her full height, and 
loosed her friend’s arm. She could look very stern at 
times, when her sense of right was injured. 

“You should speak the truth to me at least, 
Sezerina. You and Morgan shouldn’t be walking like 
that. You know what I mean.” 

“ Oh, la ! there ; to take a little walk with one 
you’ve known all your life is nothing to pull a long 
face over.” But Sezerina’s cheeks became still more 
deeply suffused with blushes. 


THE DEATH OF BLACKSTAR. II7 

Claudea stopped in the narrow lane and looked at. 
the girl, who was not pretty, but simply merry and 
young. Sezerina could not bear the gaze, and turned 
away, trying to laugh at Claudea’s earnestness. 

‘‘ I don’t know what you can mean, dear, by this. 
Morgan, you know as well as I do, isn’t the man to 
make any woman happy. Don’t you remember when 
we were children, how much afraid we were of him ? 
Now Silvester is different.” 

Oh, Silvester is always over yonder, and poor 
Morgan’s dull at home, and he likes a little walk now 
and again with an old friend.” 

‘‘Is that all, Sezerina.^” said Claudea, putting her 
hand on the girl’s shoulder ; for Sezerina, much to her 
grief, was short and stout. 

“What else should it be ? ” and Sezerina jerked her 
shoulder away. “ I might as well ask if that was all 
when you walk home with Teilo, or with this Mr. 
Ravenscroft. But I wouldn’t annoy you, Claudea, 
though we all know Teilo is mad set on your 
marrying him.” 

Claudea’s perfect calmness did not forsake her. 

“Teilo has better work to do now than to think 
about such a thing as marrying. We have always 
been friends, and I hope we always shall be, but you 
know it’s not that with Morgan. He wouldn’t marry 
you, Sezerina dear, or anyone that hadn’t a heap of 
money.” 

“ Well, I shall have my share.” 

“Not as much as Morgan wants; besides — you 


ii8 


CLAUDEA’S ISLAND. 


know what I mean, but you won’t see it. I must 
speak plainly, though he is my own brother. He 
doesn’t mean anything by his just walking with you. 
If he marries anyone — and I hope he won’t — he’ll 
marry Kate Robins. She’ll be a very rich woman 
some day.” 

‘‘ What nonsense ! Kate Robins isn’t here now, 
and as for Morgan caring for her, he has told me he 
doesn’t.” 

‘‘ Then you have talked of it } ” 

‘‘ I don’t see why you should tease me so much. I’ll 
not go any further. Good-night, Claudea, and don’t 
go spying on your neighbours.” So saying, she tripped 
back without once looking round. 

Claudea went sadly on. She had done no good, 
only she had confirmed her fears. What could be 
Morgan’s motive ? She was sure he did not care at 
all for Sezerina. He had never liked her as a girl, 
but he knew how to flatter her vanity. 

She had just reached the lane that led right into 
St. Castell, when she found herself face to face with 
Teilo. He looked ill and worn, and his cheeks were 
thinner and paler than formerly. 

‘‘ Claudea ! Well, this is a pleasure !” he said quickly. 

Are you quite well ? ” 

‘‘Yes, but you don’t look strong. You are work- 
ing too hard, Teilo. Why do you do it .^” 

“ The time is short ; the day is at hand. I hear 
those words often ringing in my ears as I go about.” 

“ Yes, the time is short ; but, Teilo, I want to warn 


THE DEATH OF BLACKSTAR. fig 

you about Sezerina. You — you — shouldn’t let her 
walk alone, and meet — with ” 

‘‘ With whom ? ” asked Teilo, flushing up. 

With Morgan, my brother. He shouldn’t make 
Sezerina believe he cares ! Don’t look angry. She 
must know she ought not, if she thinks, but then she 
so easily forgets. Teilo, just watch, and — whatever 
happens, don’t let her marry him. Good-bye. I 
must run home.” 

Teilo watched her out of sight, and then he groaned 
in spirit. 

“She doesn’t love me — she doesn’t care yet,” he 
thought. 


CHAPTER X. 


SEZERINA. 

“ Wonder it is to see, in divers minds, \ 

How diversely love doth his pageants play, 

And shows his power in variable kinds.” 

EILO now went about his duties with a 
new fear. He had carefully watched 
Sezerina’s movements, and though he 
had not seen her and Morgan together, 
he felt sure she did go out to meet him. What did 
it mean ? Mr. Price, the owner of the mill, was a 
grave, silent man, who never interfered with his son 
and daughter or their doings. He had much to do 
in seeing after his business. Price’s mill was the 
only one for miles round, and his work and his pros- 
perity were considerable. He was rather proud that 
Teilo should prefer preaching to working at the mill, 
but, in spite of this, Teilo kept all his father’s ac- 
counts, and found time for his tramps round about as 
well. Mr. Price hoped Teilo would decide to become 
a minister altogether. He was willing to give him 
up for that, Mr. Smallwood having declared Teilo 
had great gifts for preaching, and that he would some 
day be a shining light to illumine the flock. 



SEZERINA. 


I2I 


When Mr. Price entered his mill, his mind always 
reverted to money. He was rich, and he wanted to 
be richer This mania absorbed all his thoughts. He 
was already the equal of Dewis ; he wanted to be his 
superior. If Martin’s daughter was said to be a wife 
worth gaining, he wanted people to say that Teilo 
Price would be the richest young man in all these parts. 
The love of money easily becomes a madness ; and 
Mr. Price, instead of fighting against this madness, 
encouraged it. He said to himself that Sezerina 
should have as fine a wedding when the time came as 
Dewis’ girl, who should not hold her head higher 
than his child. All these thoughts were silently 
matured as he worked in the big mill. 

When you first enter the building, the gloom 
makes all the heavy machinery appear like great evil 
giants. There are the mighty beams, the great 
grindstones and the strong pillar of iron on which 
they turn, which can be seen descending from the 
cog-wheel at its junction with the axle of the huge 
sails. If you are not careful you may strike your 
head against a big lever fettered, when the mill is at 
rest, with a great chain, near to which the narrow 
stairs lead to the rest of the machinery at the top of 
the mill. Sometimes Teilo would go up the stairs 
here when the mill was not working, and opening the 
small door, which let in a bright shaft of light, he 
would stand on the platform near the four wide 
spreading arms. The view from this tiny platform 
was very beautiful, taking in a far expanse of sea 


122 


claudea’s island. 


dotted with purple islands, and all the nearer coast. 
When they were both younger, he had often taken 
Claudea up here to show her how beautiful her island 
appeared from this spot, and Claudea had delighted 
in this strange resting-place. Once she had said, 
^‘Suppose, Teilo, someone set the sails in motion 
when we two were standing here Then Teilo had 
turned pale at the idea, and had taken Claudea’s 
hand and drawn her inside the loft to make sure she 
was safe. Once on a winter’s night the machinery 
that held the great arms had been loosed, and there 
had been some moments of awful suspense till the 
great monsters had been once more rechained. 

As Teilo went about his duties, sometimes to him- 
self he compared his love for Claudea to that wild 
uncontrolled motion of the sails. He had to chain it 
down very securely so as not to let it get the mastery 
Dv-er him. On one side he heard the call to go forth 
and preach and teach sinners, and on the other he 
saw Claudea as his wife, living a happy, peaceful life 
with him on the island farm. Love, wealth, and 
happiness on the one hand, and on the other the poor 
tramping existence of a wandering preacher — a man 
who had not where to lay his head, a man who was 
servant to all, and at the call of the meanest and 
poorest. This was the mental struggle that occupied 
the young man during these summer evenings, and now 
another anxiety was added to his already heavy 
burden. What did Morgan mean by paying atten- 
tions to Sezerina } Could he have fallen in love ? 


SEZERINA. 


123 


No, that seemed hardly possible. Morgan was a bad 
man; there were many whispers about him, which 
were only whispers because old Martin Dewis was so 
much respected that no one liked to speak louder on 
the subject of Morgan’s shortcomings. 

Teilo went about during the next week in a state 
of mental disquietude very difficult to realize. He 
wanted to make up his mind in what manner he 
should let Morgan know that he would not allow any 
trifling with Sezerina, but Morgan was already angry 
with him about Claudea ; what would he say to this ? 
Teilo spent much time in prayer. Everyday he went 
down to Forth Slymridge, where a poor fisherman was 
lying ill, and his darkened mind wanted light. When 
Teilo spoke of faith and love, of trust in God’s mercy, 
he seemed to be preaching to himself, for all the 
time he felt that nothing was clear to his own mind. 
He could speak words of comfort for others, but for 
himself it was all dark. He was groping after a light 
that seemed always beyond him, always eluding his 
grasp. His will was, as he expressed it, struggling 
against God’s will, and the struggle was a very hard 
one. He wanted to see his way clearly, and light 
was denied him. The summer wind that blew in all 
its fragrance around him brought him no comfort ; 
the joyous birds seemed to mock his sorrow, and only 
the discordant sounds of the sea-birds gave him some 
degree of comfort — they mingled with his cries for 
mercy and for pity. He was unworthy, unworthy of 
preaching to others, for he felt that he came very 


124 


claudea’s island. 


near to being himself a castaway. His creed offered 
him no comfort, and he did not know where to turn 
for it. 

One evening, it happened that he returned home 
much later than usual. It was dark ; no moon or 
stars lighted his way, but he could have walked blind- 
fold for many miles round St. Castell without fear of 
losing himself Looking up he at last caught sight 
of the twinkling lights of the upper portion of the 
village, and the sight made him think that perhaps 
even- for him light might some day come into his 
desolate, darkened soul. However, turning away his 
mind from his own troubles, Teilo remembered the 
dying man he had just left. The poor fellow, whose 
only idea was that his life was drawing to an end, 
could not be roused from his apathetic indifference 
to the next world. The sordid cares of daily life had 
always filled his mind, and outside that drink had 
been his only recreation ; and now he was going to 
leave sordid care and drink for what } Death came 
so surely, so swiftly to them all ; and yet, looking 
round, what strange indifference most persons felt to 
the important subject ! Whither did we go ? What 
did God’s presence mean ? How could this poor 
ignorant man be prepared to appear before this awful 
presence ? How could he himself be prepared ? 

He was slowly skirting the churchyard and climb- 
ing the hill, when he heard footsteps close beside hiiti. 
The darkness was veil enough, and the two forms 
that brushed near to him were mere black masses ; 


SEZERINA. 125 

but the voice he heard was the voice of his sister, 
whose chatter was hardly ever silenced. 

'‘It’s late, Morgan. I must get back ; maybe Teilo 
will hear me. He was to be in early to-night.” 

“ Hush ! ” said Morgan’s voice, and the two passed 
swiftly on. 

Teilo’s blood seemed to boil in his veins. Here at 
last was proof of what Claudea had said. No modest 
maiden would venture out even with her acknowledged 
lover at such an hour as this and in such darkness. 
St. Castell had its strict rules, and public opinion 
enforced them. Teilo never gave himself time for 
thought. He hurried on after the pair, well knowing 
the lanes they would choose. They would skirt the 
town, and pass by John the weaver’s little farm, 
and so up to the windmill by Thyme Lane. He 
walked quickly on, quite sure he would overtake 
them ; but it so happened that Sezerina had a pre- 
judice against Thyme Lane, for it was there that 
Claudea had seen her, and thus it was that Teilo 
missed them and reached home before his sister 
and Morgan came slowly up to a small back gate 
which usually remained unlocked for Teilo’s sake, 
thieves being quite unknown in these parts. As the 
two reached the gate into the back garden, they 
found the tall, broad figure of Teilo standing straight 
befofe them. 

“La! Teilo,” exclaimed Sezerina, laughing, “is 
that you } How you made me start I Whatever are 
you doing here at this time? I forgot to tie up 


126 


claudea's island. 


Neptune to-night, and I came out to see if I could 
find him, and I met Morgan down the lane, and he 
brought me home.” 

“ Sezerina ! ” said Teilo sternly, " you lie.” 

“ How dare you say that } ” muttered Morgan. 

‘‘ Because it’s true, and you know it is. I met you 
by the churchyard.” 

‘‘ As if we had been there ! ” said the girl. 

Go in, Sezerina, and do not tempt God by more 
untruth.” 

The girl crept in rebellious, but cowed. When 
Teilo spoke like that he was very terrible. 

“Now, Morgan,” continued Teilo, ‘‘you have to 
account with me, Sezerina’s brother, for your evil 
deeds. Why are you trying to take away her good 
name ? ” 

Morgan did not answer, and Teilo, forgetting pru- 
dence, went on : 

“You don’t pretend to love her, I hope. She is 
young and vain, but you, Morgan — you know that I, 
at all events, know ” 

“ I know you are a canting, sneaking ” In his 

low deep voice Morgan poured out a string of invec- 
tives, whilst Teilo clenched his right hand to help him 
to keep it off his enemy. 

“ That will do. I’m not going to be roused to fight 
you again,” he replied ; but he could have said nothing 
more exasperating. Morgan remembered only too 
well the ducking he had had, and his pride rebelled ; 
for had he not been meaning to revenge himself for it 


SEZERINA. 127 

all along ? The very mention of it was more than he 
could bear. 

** Fight you. I would not touch you with a finger, 
a poor craven of a preacher, who fancies he is a saint 
and all the rest of the world sinners, and who tried to 
coerce my sister into promising to marry him. Why, 
it’s not you as she likes ; there’s another and a better 
man the silly girl hopes to marry, and I’ll live to see 
you both made fools of, you and she. There ! that’s 
my last word, you canting Methodist.” 

Morgan turned, and walking slowly away, dis- 
appeared into the darkness, leaving Teilo standing 
near the gate, motionless and silent, like a figure 
turned to stone. The breeze blew from the sea and 
wafted its refreshing sweetness against his bare fore- 
head, and all the night-sounds seemed to be pro- 
claiming his mental agony. What had Morgan said } 
—that Claudea loved another.? Who was it .? Then his 
mind sprang to the right conclusion. It must be that 
stranger — that gentleman with his sad, kindly face, and 
his polished manners. Such manners would attract 
Claudea’s poetical nature. But she had promised. 
No, Claudea could not break a promise; she never had 
done so, even as a little girl during their games of I 
spy.” If Claudea said she would not look she never 
did, whilst Sezerina never could be trusted not to 
cheat. Ah ! it was Sezerina he ought to think about, 
not his own affairs. His father was a stern, silent man, 
engrossed in money getting. If any misfortune were 
likely to spoil his good name or his money getting. 


128 


claudea's island. 


Mr. Price would try and put it away from him ; he 
would not believe it till it was all too late. What 
good would there be in warning him ; no, but whatever 
happened his sister must have nothing more to do 
with Morgan, nothing. As for telling his mother, 
that too was impossible. She was a good, kindly 
woman, but never over-wise in her dealings with her 
children, especially with Sezerina. She let them do 
always as they liked, reserving the right to grumble 
gently, never even resenting it when son or daughter 
turned away unheeding of her wishes. Young people 
did go their own way,’' she would say in excuse, and 
had they not done so she would have been very much 
puzzled how best to direct them. No, Teilo must 
find the necessary courage to deal with Sezerina 
himself She had always minded him better than 
any other, because she feared him more than anyone 
else at home. 

Pulling himself together, for he was mentally passing 
through a fierce furnace oT thought, he walked slowly 
into the house. Sezerina was crouching by the great 
chimney; she might have retired to bed, but she 
seemed chained to the spot, and as if she were fas- 
cinated by the glowing embers. She was even 
listening for Teilo's steps when he should come into 
the house. All at once he stood before her like a 
terrible judge. 

“ Sezerina, I might tell father of this, but I shall 
not do so. If he did anything, he would say no girl 
of his should behave in this way, and he might turn 


SEZERINA. 


129 


you out of doors. I want to be fair to you. I can’t 
tell what deceit you have practised on yourself or on 
others, but God knows, Sezerina.” 

“ I shan’t have any more chance of a little fun, so 
you needn’t look like that, Teilo. The strangers 
come next week, and then I shall have to slave away 
all day. It’s all very well for you to talk ; you go 
about preaching and enjoying yourself.” 

‘‘Enjoying myself.? You little know.” 

“ Oh, I know you’re saintly, and all that ; but you 
like it at the bottom of your heart. You choose your 
own duties ; you don’t tie yourself down to the mill- 
house all day as I have to do.” 

It was strange to hear this young girl accusing him 
of enjoying himself. 

“You little know the weariness of the fight with 
Satan, child. You have never wrestled in prayer or 
tried to snatch a soul from his clutch.” 

Sezerina tossed back her sandy “widow’s lock,” 
which the wind had separated from the coil of plaits. 

“ Fine words butter no parsnips. I don’t interfere 
with your pleasures, Teilo ; why do you concern your- 
self about mine .? Morgan isn’t the worst fellow at 
St. Castell, and we — we like each other.” 

Teilo lost patience. He placed a heavy hand on 
his sister’s shoulder. His voice was low and trembling. 

“ You know Morgan better than most of us, or you 
ought to do so. You know his sullen temper; but, 
besides that, hasn’t the gossip about him reached you, 
girl .? Would you be 

K 


130 


claudea’s island. 


“Don’t, Teilo. I’m not one of your stupid poor 
people that go on listening to your preaching because 
they have nothing better to do. You’re my brother, 
but I don’t care to hear all you have to say against 
Morgan. People always will gossip about everyone. 
They do about you, though don’t hear it.” 

“ About me — they can have nothing to say that all 
the world may not hear.” 

“ Good-night, Teilo. ’I’ve settled everything with 
Morgan, I may as well tell you. Yes; we are going 
to be married in a short while.” 

“ Did he say this ? ” 

“ Yes ; of course he did.” 

“ But, Sezerina, you can’t marry him without 
father’s consent.” 

“ Oh, he’ll give it fast enough. Morgan’s share of 
the money will be a nice little income in the future, of 
course, and you and I shan’t be poor.” 

“'Very well, if you like to speak so ; but remember 
you must not complain of after-events. I have 
blamed you, but you choose to shut your eyes to 
everything. Claudea will be sorry to know how you 
receive my words.” 

“ Oh, Claudea is too much of a saint for me. It’s 
late anyhow, now. Good-night, Teilo, and mind 
your own affairs.” 

She rose from her seat and went slowly out of the 
room. When she reached the doorway, she heard 
Teilo calling her by her pet name : 

“ Rina, dear, don’t take it amiss. If I could tell you 


SEZERINA. 


13I 

or make you understand what I feel about it — how 
God will never forgive me if I have not done my best 

to set you on the right road. Rina 

Sezerina paused half a second. Her face became 
very pale ; then she shut her lips closely, and without 
saying another word she walked upstairs. 

Left alone, Teilo fell on his knees and bowed his 
head in deep sorrow and in great agony of soul. 

I have no influence with those who are nearest and 
dearest to me. I am an unprofitable servant, O Lord ! 
having done no good thing at all, not one good thing. 
That evil man has changed my shallow, affectionate 
little sister into another creature. Once she loved 
me, but now he has bewitched her. If only he means 
to marry her ; but oh ! my poor, silly child — even as 
his wife she will repent. I must save her — I must!'’ 

Over the many islands and over the wide sea the 
dawn was slowly spreading when Teilo at last rose up 
and went slowly to bed. 




CHAPTER XL 

PARTING. 

“ So when Love speechless is, she doth express 
A depth in love, and that love bottomless. 

Now since my love is tongueless, know me such. 

Who speak but little, ^cause I love so much.” 

LAUDEA was living in an atmosphere 
through which everything seemed bathed 
in a golden haze. The old “Mermaid,” 
permeated with the odour of stale tobacco, 
seemed too narrow for her life, though now she never 
entered Herbert's room, and she never met him out 
except by pure accident. Her promise to Teilo 
seemed to prevent any free intercourse with the man 
she loved so deeply. But she was not unhappy. 
Why should she be ? They w^ere to wait only six 
months, and then all might be free and open as the 
day, and in the meanwhile she must not let evil 
tongues speak. Claudea had once thought nothing of 
gossip, but love had taught her to dread this as much 
for Herbert as for herself. They would blame this 
London gentleman if it were known he made love to 
a maiden of St. Castell, and Claudea shrank from 
even the appearance of evil. So now there were no 




PARTING. 


133 


more happy days on the water or on the island, for 
Herbert Ravenscroft was no longer the stranger who 
must be entertained, but he was the man she loved 
and the man who loved her. Her innate delicacy of 
soul raised her far above her station, and it was this 
delicacy which constituted one of her great charms. 
It was this which made her in such deep sympathy 
with what was beautiful in nature. 

Herbert Ravenscroft had not fully understood this 
in her, though unconsciously he felt it. To him she 
was a beautiful specimen of unspoilt nature, especially 
when compared with the artificial belles of a London 
season, but, in his own mind, he meant in the future 
to transform this natural specimen into a gem whose 
value should be increased by a costly setting. In his 
mind’s eye he saw her dressed in the height of fashion ; 
not setting a sail with graceful ease, but driving down 
Rotten Row as the wife of Herbert Ravenscroft. He 
could not accept Ciaudea as Claudea, only as the seed 
of a future beautiful blossom that would expand into 
a rare and very choice hothouse flower, labelled with 
a new name, as coming from a fresh country — in fact, a 
rare importation of extraordinary merit. As to this 
waiting-time imposed upon him, he accepted it as one of 
Claudea’s strange and original wishes. The very fact 
of his being more in love with the idea of Claudea 
than with the true Claudea made him patient. After 
the first few days, however, he began to wish to see 
more of her, and to talk more freely to her. Her new 
consciousness was a revelation of a purer soul than he 


134 


claudea's island. 


could quite fathom. A present had been given 
to him whose strange beauty he could not quite 
^ understand. 

Anyhow, he must now think of the future. He 
meant to marry Claudea immediately she said ‘^yes,” 
and then he meant to carry her away from the 
country scenes and sights, which in time she must 
forget had ever belonged to her. He pictured to 
himself, as most men do picture, a very sweet little 
home, where he should continue his literary work, 
and there Claudea should look lovely, and make 
everything comfortable — creature comforts playing a 
great part in all men’s visions. In Claudea he should 
always find a well of poetry ready to revivify his own 
more prosaic nature and renew his weary spirit. He 
would return to London, and there once more take up 
the broken threads of his life. He would find a small 
house, and furnish it, and get a charming little nest 
ready for his wild sea-bird.' 

A few days after his eventful island experience, 
from his window he watched Claudea going down the 
hill, and he determined to have an interview with her. 
Was she going to the church, or was she on her way to 
the boat ? It was a fine and sunny day, but almost too 
late to cross, he thought. The afternoon had been 
hot, but now a cool breeze was rising from the sea. 
Taking out his sketching materials, he set out to 
follow her, so as to tell her of his intention, or rather 
a part of it, for he had not courage to own that 
Claudea’s island could not attract him for a lifetime. 


PARTING. 


135 

Herbert went down the thirty-nine steps into the old 
churchyard, looking all round him to see if he could 
discover traces of his love, but he saw nothing. Nor 
was she in the church ; for the old rheumatic clerk was 
dusting the seats, and he informed Herbert he was 
the first visitor that had looked in, But it was a bad 
year for tourists, and a good job, too, for they were 
strange folk, and made the place so noisy.” 

Passing through the wide porch, he went out of the 
tiny gate and crossed the plank over the river, which 
here looked extremely picturesque, as it hurried on, 
overcoming the obstacles with dogged perseverance 
and ceaseless chatter. On and on he went, taking the 
road towards the Forth, but having gained the brow 
of the hill, he suddenly saw a tiny speck on his right 
hand moving quite away from the sea. That must be 
Claudea, and she was on her way to Ca^n Slymridge, 
now purpling gradually as the sun descended the 
golden steps of evening. Herbert remembered that 
Claudea had once pointed out some tiny white 
cottage at the foot of the hill as the abode of a lame 
girl whom she had taught to knit. She must be 
going there, and he hurried on after her, wishing he 
had started sooner. 

He reached the cottage just as Claudea came out 
of it, and her face was full of love and joy when her 
eyes fell on Herbert. 

She held out her hand, and blushed for pleasure. 

‘‘ Did you follow me ? she said, a little reproach- 
fully. 


136 


claudea’s island. 


“ I wanted to sketch,” was the evasive answer. 

‘‘Then come out on the Cam. The climb is steep, 
but the view is very, very beautiful.” They climbed 
in silence, Claudea leading the way, whilst Herbert 
followed more slowly up the rocky path, which was 
quite a miniature mountain climb. 

At last Claudea reached the summit, and as she 
stood there she might have been a Greek maiden in 
all her simple beauty and her perfect proportion. 
Herbert was sure now his chosen bride was one of 
those rare cases of simple perfection of figure and 
limb not allied with blue blood. 

“You have reached this height first,” he said, 
laughing and taking her hand in his. He dared not 
show her greater affection. 

“ But we can enjoy this view together. Look at my 
island, Mr. Ravenscroft ; does it not proudly take the 
lead of all the others ? What troubles me, however, 
is that poor Blackstar will never eat the sweet grass 
there again, or lift her head to smell the sea breeze. 
I often wonder if, when I am dead, I shall be able to 
come and wander round the dear place. Our people 
here believe in wandering spirits, and I think there 
must be some who want to come and see their old 
haunts.” 

“No one knows,” said Herbert. “ Anyhow, we have 
enough to do with life, without speculating on death. 
Look here, dearest Claudea, I want you to know that 
I have made up my mind to go away on Saturday 
for a time — only for a time — just to settle some business 


PARTING. 137 

before our marriage. You have not yet repented, I 
suppose, even though I am kept at arm’s length.” 

“ I am finding out what love means,” she said 
slowly, and sitting down on a large grey rock. 
know it is something very beautiful and very precious, 
but duty must come first, always first, I think. I owe 
Teilo that duty, and then after that, after that — 
but I don’t want you to suffer. It will be better you 
should go, and when you come back you will find me 
here waiting for you.” 

‘‘ Do you know, Claudea, that there are many in 
the great world who would willingly change with 
you ? Do you know you are very beautiful, darling, 
and that with a little teaching you would easily make 
a name ? ” 

Claudea shook her head. 

I can do nothing but love. I love poetry because 
it says all that I cannot utter ; but myself, I shall 
never do more. I shall only love all beautiful 
things.” 

** You will love me, darling ? ” 

“You — yes; because I loved so much before 
I saw you — I mean, I loved all nature so much. 
I want others to know that pleasure. It seems that 
that would prevent people being mean or cruel or — 
foolish — only your heart might break from too much 
loving.” 

“ That must be a wasted love.” 

“ Like yours ? Oh, no ! yours has not been wasted. 
Ske must have been better for it, even if she did not 


138 


claudea's island. 


know it. * God is love ! ’ is my favourite text ; so of 
course He zs all the beautiful things we see.’' 

Herbert was in unknown waters now. Kind and 
gentle by nature, religious thoughts had never been 
much cultivated by him, but he loved them for 
Claudea’s sake. It seemed to him as if he were 
standing by Claudea’s side opposite* a fresco of Fra 
Angelico, Some of the perfection of art was wanting, 
but the perfection of artistic spirit was all over it. It 
raised him far above himself. 

“ Claudea, dear, when I come back I shall claim 
you, and you shall tell me when I may call you mine 
to live always together, to see all the beauty of life 
and love together. Then there will be no more need 
to speak in private like this.” 

Claudea’s face saddened. 

“When all is so full of happiness for myself, it 
seems hard that there is a shadow on other people.” 

“Of whom are you thinking, dear.^” he asked, 
taking her hand. 

“ I am in trouble about Sezerina. I think she is 
making a mistake, and I must save her. Sometimes 
one sees so plainly, and at other times it is dark. I 
suppose God teaches us by light and darkness. We 
should not love light if we did not know the dark- 
ness. Do you see St. Castell Head ? There are old 
stone foundations there of very ancient dwellings. 
At least, Mr. Hathaway says so. Do you think 
people who lived so long, long ago as that thought as 
we do ^ ” 


PARTING. 139 

No ; of course they did not. I am sure they did 
not care for beauty.*’ 

“ I think they did. They must have done so.” 

There was a long, happy silence; then Claudea 
rose. 

‘‘ I must go home now. Don’t come with me.” 

‘‘Won’t you give meone kiss, Claudea, before we go.?” 

“No ! ” said Claudea, putting her hand in Herbert’s, 
“ no ! when you kiss me I must be yours with no 
promise between us. A kiss is a very sacred and 
beautiful thing, isn’t it ? When I kiss father or 
mother, I feel I am just owning their right to me. 
You see how the waves kiss that distant headland. 
The sea and the shore are always one with each 
other, always together. That sort of union frightens 
one a little. It is for ever.” 

He kissed her small brown hand, and felt like a 
preux chevalier. Gina had never raised such feelings 
in him. 

“Good-bye, darling. Do you know you are the 
sweetest and most original of women. A man must 
always be influenced by such a nature as yours. 
What is best in him will be made more perfect by 
your thoughts.” 

“ Oh, no,” said Claudea ; “ I’m only myself. Good- 
bye, good-bye. I shall try to learn so much when you 
are away, for your sake ” 

“ And you won’t let me write to you ? ” 

Claudea shook her head. 

“People would wonder too much. No, but yet — 


140 


CLAUDEA'S ISLAND. 


if I want you very much — if you can help me, I 
shall write to you, and you will come ? ” 

"Yes, dearest, I will come. Keep this address. It 
will always find me.” 

Claudea put it into the bosom of her dress. 

" It is such a wonderful thing how you understand 
all that I care about. Teilo never does ; he never 
can. Nature is all hard and cruel to him. He does 
not see God’s love ; he only sees His anger. Poor 
Teilo!” She waved her hand once more, and then, 
with a light, quick step, she descended the rocky side 
of Cam Slymridge, and Herbert watched her a long 
time walking across the fields. Once or twice she 
turned back and waved her hand, and once she paused 
a long time as if she were watching him, but she was 
too far off then for him to see her distinctly, and at 
last he turned away, and, walking to the coast, took 
the cliff-path back to St. Castell. 

There was much regret and lamentation expressed 
by the worthy Dewis and his wife when Mr. Ravens- 
croft announced his intention of going away. He 
wished, however, to leave most of his books and his 
other possessions in their keeping, saying he was 
coming back before next Christmas Eve, and indeed, 
he said, he might run down again before the summer 
was over. 

"You’ll be always welcome, sir,” said Mrs. Dewis, 
" and I’m sure that our Claudea will miss you. She 
was glad enough to get an excuse for going to the 
island, though last time you went there was poor 


PARTING. 


I4I 

Blackstar’s death, that saddened her sorely. Claudea 
and the dumb creatures always did seem able to speak 
to each other, though they were mighty fond of me 
and of my son Silvester. They couldn’t abide Morgan, 
but he never was gentle with the dumb kind, and they 
know it fast enough, I can tell you. Claudea’s been 
sadder ever since then, but time will soften the sorrow. 
My husband says you must be born and bred on the 
land for animals to understand your ways and you 
theirs. Claudea was always one that didn’t need 
words, and if there were more like her there would 
not be such a buzzing of tongues. Sezerina now, 
she kills sunshine with words, though she has a good 
heart at the bottom.” 

‘‘ When I come back, Mrs. Dewis, I shall expect a 
very hearty welcome from all my friends. You don't 
forget easily down here, I am sure.” 

“ Forget ! no, we never forget our friends, and 
there’ll be a hearty welcome for you, sir, whenever 
you come back.” 

Herbert walked round to say good-bye to the 
people he knew. He made a point of going to the 
mill, but he only saw Mrs. Price and Sezerina, who 
were both busy getting the house ready for their 
expected visitors. Herbert did not take much interest 
in new visitors now that he was going away. He felt 
a little jealous of newcomers. He longed for the time 
when he could openly come back and claim his sea- 
bride, as he named her to himself, and carry her right 
away with him. Of course he called on the old 


142 


claudea’s island. 


clergyman, Mr. Hathaway, who was more like a fossil 
than a human being, but full of kindness, though to 
Herbert he seemed far more removed from his line of 
thought than were the poorer folk. Herbert felt deep 
regret at leaving. He had grown very fond of the 
place. It had been a very kind nurse to him, and had 
lulled him into oblivion of the past ; better still, it had 
given him hope for the future. He had come to find 
forgetfulness, and he had gathered new and richer 
memories. Gina was becoming a distant image, 
blurred in his remembrance, not forgotten, but the 
sting of pain associated with her had been taken out 
by Claudea’s tender fingers. With Claudea for a wife, 
life might have some surprises, but these could 
certainly never be of a disagreeable nature. 

When the morning of his departure came, there was 
quite a stir at the ‘‘Mermaid;’^ for the arrival or 
departure of a guest was a great event at St. Castell, 
the sixteen miles between that fair spot and any line 
of railway making the place a little republic of its 
own. At a very early hour the old post-chaise was 
wheeled into the yard, and the pair of horses that 
drew it were warned by very evident signs that the 
great journey was to be their portion upon that day. 
Old Jim hobbled about in great excitement, now and 
then exchanging anything but polite compliments 
with Morgan, who usually bullied him when there was 
no necessity to do so. 

Herbert’s packing-up did not take long; but when 
he was quite ready, the carriage and pair were by no 


PARTING. 


143 


means ready for him. It was during this interval 
that Claudea came out with her mother to speed the 
parting guest. 

It was a beautiful summer’s day, and the birds sang 
lustily in the trees that shaded the ‘‘ Mermaid ” from 
the summer heat and the autumn winds.- For a very 
few minutes Herbert was alone with Claudea. She 
^held out a tiny bunch of old-fashioned flowers to him. 

“We always give the traveller who is leaving us a 
few flowers,” she said, smiling. “ They will remind 
you of St. Castell even when they are dead ; see, that 
sweetbriar will keep its smell for a long time.” 

‘‘ I don’t need that reminder, dear,” he said softly. 

“No ; I know you will not.” She looked up at him 
with her truthful dark eyes. “ But one likes sweet 
reminders. You know that I shall be waiting for you 
when you come back. Whenever I sail to the island, 
I shall think you are by my side, as you w^ere the 
other day. But when the birds go they will take some 
of my beautiful picture away with them.” 

“ But remember they will come back, though the 
island must be very silent without them.” 

“They come in October again, on their way to 
warmer lands. I believe they know we love them, 
and that we are looking for their coming again.” 

“ You will not get rid of me as easily when I do 
come back, Claudea.” 

“ Hush ! Here is Morgan, and father is with him.” 

The whole family surrounded the lumbering chaise 
when at last Jim drove it out from the yard, and in 


144 


claudea's island. 


the babel of tongues Claudea's silence was not noticed. 
Among all the waving of hands no one saw her press 
her finger-tips and send her first kiss to her lover, and 
when the post-chaise and Jim and Mr. Ravenscroft 
had disappeared round the corner, no one noticed 
Claudea turn indoors, and no one saw her brush away 
a few tears that, in spite of herself, would gather in 
her eyes. 

‘‘ He will come back,” she said, ‘‘ and I shall be here 
to welcome him, even if everyone else has forgotten 
him.” 

Then her old, uneventful life began again. 



•3 





CHAPTER XIL 


CITY AND SEA. 

** While with an eye made quiet by the power 
Of harmony, and the deep power of joy, 

We see into the life of things.’^ 



Y dear Aunt May, this is the most de- 
lightful place in the world, and this 
mill is romance itself! That dear old 
general was a true prophet when he said 
I should feel at once at home among this idyllic 
people and this exquisite scenery.’’ Thus spoke the 
Hon. Georgina Ashton. 

'“You speak, Gina, as if you had’ never travelled 
in Italy and elsewhere.” 

“Yes; but I know nothing of my own country. 
This morning I wandered down to the cliff, and 
everywhere the view^s were delicious. The islands 
seemed to be floating on the bosom of the ocean.” 

“ But they were, however, fixtures, we know. I 
wish, Gina, you could look at reality sometimes.” 

Miss Medlicott was not sentimental, and for this 
reason, perhaps, and by way of contrast, Gina had 
been always in her good books. She admired her 




146 claudea's island. 

niece’s pretty daintiness, being herself very plain and 
awkward. 

Reality has yet to be defined. How do we know 
what reality means ? ” 

'*Why, that those islands are not floating about, 
but pretty well rooted, I hope. I only wish your 
inclinations were the same, dear.” 

Tears gathered in Gina’s blue eyes. 

Oh, Aunt May, how can you ? Was it my fault 
this time ? Lionel found another harmony ; his key- 
note changed.” 

Gina said this gravely. She did not see the twinkle 
in her aunt’s eyes. 

‘‘You threw over that charming young Ravenscroft 
because — really, I forget why. You behaved very 
badly, and this want of harmony in your next 
inclination serves you right. You will die an old 
maid, and what a sentimental old thing you will be, 
Gina. Not at all like the Medlicotts.” 

“ Oh, I hope not ! As long as I live at least let me 
keep some ideals. You have none. Aunt May ! ” 

“I am none the worse for that. I can eat my 
meals comfortably, and, because I couldn’t marry the 
man I loved when I was young, I am now an old 
maid, and a very happy one, too.” 

“ No, Aunt May, only those who live in the ideal 
know true happiness. Yours is a negative kind of joy, 
which I do not wish to possess. But I have already 
found an ideal here in this out-of-the-way corner of 
the world.” 


CITY AND SEA. 147 

Miss Medlicott upset the salt she was carrying to 
her plate. 

Good gracious, Gina, you don’t really mean to 
say that you have already picked up another ideal 1 ” 

“A beautiful ideal. I have never seen such a 
perfect picture. You know my sketches have been 
admired. Poor Herbert used to admire them very 
much. He said they were full of poetry. Well, I 
shall sketch this ideal.” 

“ A fisherman ? Anyhow, I hope there is no new 
heart to break.” 

" It is a woman ! The most beautiful girl I have 
•ever seen. I will tell you how I came to discover 
her. I wanted to take a long walk, but I seldom can 
walk as far as my wishes would carry me ; so I asked 
this buxom Sezerina — what a barbarous name ! — how 
to get a carriage so as to drive to the shore. She 
said John the weaver’s boy had a donkey-trap, and 
that he would drive me down to the Lifeboat Forth. 
I accepted ; but, indeed, it was not an ideal donkey. 
It shied at everything, even its own reflection, and it 
didn’t go as fast as a snail. However, we got there 
at last, and I was glad to get out and walk down to 
the shore. Imagine, Aunty dear, my surprise at finding 
a lovely little bay — oh, so lovely ! — Then, on the tiny 
landing-place, my exquisite ideal was standing, 
helping a deaf-and-dumb boy to get a boat off. I 
gazed at her a long time quite spell-bound, and then 
I saw her step into the boat and sail away. She was 
a poem in herself. I asked the donkey-boy all about 


148 


claudeVs island. 


her, but this was all I could get out of him : ^ That’s 
Miss Claudea !’ (Think of that pretty pronunciation ! — 
isn’t it perfect ?) ‘ She lives at the “ Mermaid,” as Mr. 
Martin Dewis has taken on.’ ” 

“ Well, my dear Gina, an innkeeper’s daughter is 
not a very romantic subject to choose for your 
ecstatic admiration. It sounds better in a book than 
it is in reality.” 

“You shall see. In the meanwhile I am so much 
charmed with this place that I sha!ll renounce all 
London society, and if possible end my days at 
St. Castell.” 

“Then your father will certainly be surprised at 
your decision ; and, if I am to be your companion, my 
dear Gina, I hope your days will not be long in the 
land.” 

Aunt and niece never expected their wishes to 
dovetail ; so they never lost their tempers at the 
frequent opposition which usually met one or the 
other of them. Besides, Gina was really clever as 
well as aesthetic, and if she could have fluttered long 
enough over one flower to have extracted its honey, 
shewould have been awell-laden bee. As it was, though 
her journeys into the flower gardens were many, she 
seldom brought home much useful spoil. Her per- 
sonal appearance was very fascinating, especially to 
men. She was very fair, very pretty, and very womanly. 
Her clinging disposition flattered those who did not 
know she had sought the support of many others, and 
would in the future cling to many more, unless some 


CITY AND SEA. 


149 


one personality could impress her enough to stay her 
many flights of fancy on the wing. Gina’s last fancy 
having ended disastrously, she had made herself ill 
with worrying, and the London physician, who had not 
time to attend to such cases, had recommended change 
of air without excitement ; and thus it happened that 
St. Castell had been chosen for her by an old friend 
as the most out-of-the-way place in the world. 

Gina Ashton would have been almost content to 
live a little while without an ideal, but fate had deter- 
mined otherwise. The July days were “perfect,” the 
old church “quite romantic,” the cliff walk “too 
heavenly.” The sketching was “ enchanting,” and 
now she had seen Claudea ! Of course. Miss Medlicott 
did not believe her ; so Gina waited impatiently for 
the next opportunity of showing her aunt “the ideal 
innkeeper’s daughter,” as Miss Medlicott ironically 
named her. 

Therefore, when next Sezerina made her appearance, 
the impressionable Gina began to question her closely 
about Claudea. 

But Sezerina had lost some of her girlish happiness. 
She still smiled and chattered, but her ringing laugh 
was not heard about the house. Something was 
changed about her, and the sunlight did not seem to 
her the glorious thing it had once been. Of course 
the strangers knew nothing of this. To them Sezerina 
appeared to be a buxom country-girl of the better 
class, and with more love of finery than taste to know 
how to wear it. 


claudea’s island. 


150 

‘‘ Was it Claudea you saw ! She is my friend ; we 
were playfellows, but now she holds herself very 
high,'’ and Sezerina tossed her head. Gina thought, 

No wonder she does if slit compares herself with 
Sezerina.” 

“Would she take us in her boat.'^” said Gina, 
thinking of no other way of forming an acquaintance. 

“ Well, I’ll ask her. Claudea mostly does things 
she’s asked to do.” 

That same evening, when a dim crimson was spread- 
ing over the far west, against which the islands and 
the line of jagged earns were drawn as if with a brush 
dipped in cerulean blue, Sezerina ran down the lane 
from the mill in order to find Claudea at the ‘‘ Mer- 
maid.” Claudea was picking some peaches, and as 
she placed them carefully in a basket she might have 
been some Vestal, gathering early fruit for the offer- 
ings in the temple. 

“ I’m glad I’ve found you,” said Sezerina, walking 
down the path by the southern wall against which 
the peach-house was placed. " It is seldom we meet 
now.” Sezerina’s voice was sad, even though her 
laugh was as lo^ud as usual. 

"I was just coming to the mill with this basket of 
peaches, Rina dear. I know when you have visitors 
little gifts please them. How busy you must have 
been ! If you want a helping hand, you know we 
have no one now staying here, and I could come and 
help you.” 

Oh, I can manage, thank you. But the two ladies 


CITY AND SEA. 151 

want you to row them in your boat. They want to 
see the island. Are the birds gone yet ? ’’ 

‘‘They will soon be on the wing, but a few always 
stay behind for a time. What are your ladies like, 
Rina ? They might be nervous with me.” 

“One is the prettiest fairy imaginable, Claudea. 
Do all I can I couldn’t get my dresses to fit like 
hers.” 

Claudea laughed. 

“ Then don’t try. Our own clothes are much more 
convenient. How could I boat in a long train or in a 
velvet gown ? I don’t expect your lady knows how 
happy one- is on the water in a dress that cannot be 
hurt if a wave just washes in to greet you, or if the 
rocks tug your petticoat as you pass. But I’m ready ; 
I’ll walk back with you.” 

Sezerina hesitated a little. 

“ Claudea, where’s Morgan ? ” 

Claudea’s lips no longer smiled. 

“Morgan went to Freshbay this morning. He’ll 
be out all day.” 

“ He’s really gone } ” 

“ Y es. Do I ever invent news } ” 

“No, Claudea; but Teilo’s coming back the same 
way to-night. I hope they’ll not meet. Teilo’s angry 
with him.” 

“It’s your fault, Rina. Why don’t you give up 
such ways ? Morgan’s not one you should encourage 
as you do.” 

Sezerina burst into tears. 


IS2 


claudea's island. 


“It’s all very well of you, Claudea, to talk like 
that; but there’s Teilo ready to be your slave, and 
you are so cold and indifferent to everyone. I’m not 
like you ; but Morgan isn’t the same how.” 

“ How the same ? ” 

“ Since the night Teilo and he had words about 
me, Morgan won’t come near me.” 

“ I’m glad of that. I expect Teilo made him see it 
wasn’t right.” 

“ Glad ! — Oh, Claudea ! ” and Sezerina’s face seemed 
to change. 

“Yes; you see he didn’t mean anything, and you 
should be glad, too, that your silly fancy will be 
stopped. It’s no use running after a man that’s — that’s 
like Morgan.” 

“ Claudea, you’re good ; you don’t understand. I 
wish — I wish I’d told you all about it at first ; but now 
I’m — so unhappy.” 

“ Wait till the season’s over, and then go and stay 
with your cousin, Rina dear. You can’t really care 
about Morgan ; you know what people say — and — I 
don’t ever listen because he’s my brother, but for your 
sake, Rina, I did warn you.” 

“ Yes, I know. Well, I must go back. Come with 
me. They want to see you.” 

The two girls walked across the road, and down 
the narrow lane full of the perfume of wild flowers. 
At first they were silent, and then Claudea said : 

"When Blackstar died, I seemed to understand 
some of the pain of all dumb creatures. It’s just like 


CITY AND SEA. I S3 

that with us and God. We are dumb ; but if we look 
up to Him, then He understands.'' 

“ Oh, I’m not religious ! Teilo talks like that. 

Besides, besides Never mind, Claudca, I'm cross, 

you know, and hasty; but you did do your best for 
me. I'll say that." 

“ You know I'll do all I can for you, but now do— do 
be warned. Don’t have anything more to do with 
Morgan. It's not too late yet." 

He said he — he cared," said Sezerina, looking 
absently at the great arms of the windmill drawn out 
against a green-tinted eastern sky, in the depth of 
which a few stars were faintly appearing; ‘‘and no 
one else ever came courting me." 

Claudea did not seem to hear this remark, and 
having reached the gate, Sezerina led the way up- 
stairs into the sitting-room of the two ladies. From 
their windows could be seen the not far-distant sea, 
but there were only a few islands visible from this 
spot, some out-buildings coming in the way and 
hiding part of the view. 

Gina A.shton was sketching from the window, try- 
ing to get some of the purple and gold of nature into 
her picture. Her aunt was reading aloud to her, 
when Sezerina announced Claudea, and then retreated 
hastily. 

Claudea, in her large straw hat and simple skirt 
and jersey, which showed off her exquisite figure to 
perfection, stood for a moment in the doorway 
silent, not from shyness — she was too simple to be 


claudea’s island. 


IS4 

very shy — but struck with admiration for the fairy-like 
prettiness of the young lady before her. The gold 
hair fluffed and rolled round a pretty head ; the large 
blue eyes, always looking up and searching for some 
new satisfaction — all these signs of the confiding child 
appealed to Claudea’s protecting womanhood. She 
did not realize, in the least, how far more really 
beautiful she herself was, with no help from art or 
from dressmakers. 

Gina, on the contrary, recognized this at once, and 
even Miss Medlicott, usually scornful of her niece’s 
new discoveries, felt that the girl before her was a 
lady in the truest sense of the word. It was impos- 
sible to patronize her ; but it was also rather diffi- 
cult to know how to receive this strange new 
type of beautiful and unconventional girlhood. Gina 
was under no such difficulty. She started up, and 
came forward to shake hands, as if she had known this 
ideal all her life. 

Miss Price has told us that you would forgive us 
if we inquired about the boat. I saw you sailing 
yesterday, and I thought it delightful to see you 
manage it so beautifully. Now, if you would be so 
very kind^ ” 

In a few words,” put in Miss Medlicott, “ my niece 
wants to say that if you would take us to your island, 
it would be really a charming expedition.” 

I will, gladly,” said Claudea, lifting her head a 
little, and giving the fairy one of her beautiful smiles. 
‘'Did Sezerina call it my island.? It belongs to my 


CITY AND SEA. 155 

father, of course ; but I was born there, and it is to be 
mine some day/' 

How romantic ! ” exclaimed Gina, bringing a 
chair forward for Claudea. “Won't you sit down and 
tell us the names of all the islands we can see ? Fancy 
owning one of them ! I should be so happy if I 
possessed even the tiniest of them, and if I could live 
there for ever. Oh, Aunt May, that sounds so 
perfect." 

It sounds so. You forget the reality, Gina.” 

Claudea turned her dark eyes (Gina said afterwards 
that the light of evening was permanently in them) 
towards the vision of fair hair, and with a little motion 
of her hand, she exclaimed, suddenly drawn out by 
the friendliness of the young lady: 

“ If it sounds beautiful, you, who have not tried it, 
cannot really understand how beautiful it is to live 
there, to hear the waves always speaking, always 
saying something grand. In winter they tell you 
of battles and the fight of old warriors, men like those 
who are carved in stone down there in our old church, 
but in summer-time the waves whisper about good 
deeds and love, and little children playing with peb- 
bles. But then the birds — they are not yet gone. You 
will see some of them if you will come to-morrow.” 

“ Indeed, Miss Claudea,” said Miss Medlicott, 
smiling; “you will make my niece more foolishly 
romantic than she is already.” 

“ You see. Aunt May, I was right. I have found a 
kindred spirit.” 


IS6 


claudea's island. 


Not at all, Gina ; you have found a real lover of 
loneliness, which you never were, and never will be. 
You always want someone to listen to your rhap- 
sodies.” 

Claudea laughed — her laugh was musical, having 
never been raised above the voice of the sea, for sea- 
folk know that is an impossibility. 

The tide will be right for one o’clock to-morrow ; 
so we can spend a good afternoon there, and the 
evening will be calm, I think. Look at the red glory 
over the west.” 

Some day,” said Gina, when Claudea rose to go, 
you really must let me make a sketch of you, stand- 
ing by your boat, just as I saw you yesterday.” 

If you like ; but I can show you much more 
beautiful sketches from the island. An artist has 
lately been painting them.” 

“ Where is he ? I love artists.” 

He is gone. He was not a real artist ; but he 
loved it.” ’ 

‘‘ What a pity he has gone ! Oh, must you be 
going ? Thank you ; I am longing for to-morrow.” 

Claudea went out into the evening air, with a smile 
still playing upon her lips. Would Herbert have 
liked this pretty girl with blue eyes ? she thought. 
But now he was gone, and the place seemed very 
desolate without him. She leant her elbows on the 
garden gate, and gazed at the familiar beauty all 
round her. Some yellowhammers fluttered near to 
her before going to rest, and one redbreast, recalling 


CITY AND SEA. 1 57 

winter, flew up into a stunted thorn-tree to sing its 
last evening song. 

'‘That girl is very pretty, but how can she know 
what it is to love the country ? She is a town-girl, 
and she cannot understand.” 



CHAPTER XIII. 



WITH THE “SEA-GULL.” 

“ Nature never did betray 
The heart that loved her ; ’tis her privilege, 

Through all the years of this our life, to lead 
From joy to joy.” 

EILO was coming up the lane just as 
Claudea was walking home, so that they 
met in the deepening purple of this sum- 
mer's evening. It was some time since 
they had done so, and seeing Claudea's graceful 
figure standing out against the chrysolite sky, with 
two great black arms of the windmill in the back- 
ground, the preacher's heart beat fast. The very 
presence of this woman made him feel how weak 
were his struggles against his strong love. She had 
always been able to raise his intellectual level, but he 
never seemed able to approach her moral standpoint. 
He strove for simplicity in his religion, and failed to 
attain it, always striving as it were with the angel of 
God without prevailing. 

“ Claudea ! " he said in a low voice, “ Claudea, why 
have you avoided me lately ? If you are never to 
speak to me, how shall I make you understand } " 



WITH THE “SEA-GULL.” 159 

“It’s not the understanding that you were waiting 
for,” said Claudea, leaning her back against the gate. 
‘‘You were waiting to see if the call came to you with 
greater power. But Fm glad to speak now, Teilo. I 
want to tell you that when you ask me on Christmas 
Eve my answer will be ‘no.’” 

“Don’t!” said Teilo impatiently; “then it’s true, 
Claudea, you love another — They have told me 
so.” 

Claudea felt the warm blood spreading over her 
cheeks as water covers the smooth sand, but the 
shades hid this tell-tale witness. 

“ I have always been — true to you ; I have always 
said I should love you as a brother; I said I would 
wait till Christmas Eve, not knowing — but I shall be 
true to my promise ; I will not give anyone the right 
to ” 

“ Then it’s true,” repeated Teilo. “ Let me show you 
what you are doing, Claudea. Don’t I know you 
better than anyone else ? You will marry this stranger, 
and he will take you away from here, and then you 
will hear all the old voices of your youth calling for 
you, and they will drag you back, or you will die — I 
know you better than ” 

Claudea bit her lip. 

“You know this, and yet you once said that you 
must go and preach far away from my island, and 
that you must obey a higher call. Did I want to 
keep you back ? The man who loves me will love my 
home. But, dear Teilo, don’t let us hurt each other ; 


i6o claudea’s island. 

try to forget me. You will then give all your mind 
and your heart to God’s work, and isn’t that infinitely 
better than possessing human love ? ” 

There was a pause. A brown owl fluttered out of 
a stunted yew-tree in the mill garden, and a bat 
brushed past Teilo with eerie swiftness. 

I can’t — I can’t give you up. I know you don’t 
love me ; I know the smoothness and the fair words of 
the stranger have taken your fancy ; perhaps he thinks 
he loves you. Well, it isn’t difficult to love you, dear ; 
but he can’t understand, how can he ? What does he 
know of your life, or of the things you love most ? 
He was bred in the town, and has no heart to under- 
stand. The flame only fed with dry sticks soon burns 
out, but the fire that has smouldered in a beam of oak 
will burn for years. No, Claudea, for your own sake, 
I must keep you to your promise, and on Christmas 
Eve you shall say ‘yes* to me. Till then — give me 
your hand once more. It*s the sight of you now and 
again that makes me able to keep on. The indiffe- 
rence of those poor men is a heavy burden to carry 
about with you. If I believed you would feel as I do, 
and that you would help me in the work, do you 
think it would be difficult ? It would be child’s play 
then. I would make them see their folly, and they 
should lead more godly lives, but now it’s a heavy 
burden, a very heavy burden, I carry.” 

“But Christ said, ‘My yoke is easy and my burden 
is light.’ Oh, it’s love, just loving people that would 
make it easy ; but I think there are some who love 


WITH tilE SEA-GtJLlJ* l6x 

themselves most. Mr. Tramerin never wears a sad 
face, and yet he works hard.” 

“ Your curate doesn't feel the burden of souls. You 
are hedged in with forms and ceremonies ; you can’t 
speak straight out of your heart as we can.” 

I like the old words best, they are like the song of 
the blackbird or the robin. I shouldn’t like them to 
change every year, nor the flowers to have a new 
scent, even if it were a sweeter one. But indeed, Teilo ; 
I must not stop any more. I’ve been to see Sezerina’s 
visitors. They want me to row them over to the 
island to-morrow, and that you know is a pleasant 
task for me. We shall be going at one o’clock. 
Good-night, and don’t come with me.” 

She held out her hand, and then walked hastily 
away without looking back. For her the beauty of 
the evening had faded, and the reason of this was 
Teilo’s remark about the stranger. She tried to put 
the thought aside, but it came back again. As she 
neared the village cross she noticed Morgan coming 
up the hill, and then she remembered with thankful- 
ness that Teilo was by this time indoors, and that 
the two could not have met on the road. She was 
standing at a corner of a projecting house, and not 
wishing to meet her brother, she paused a moment to 
let him precede her. As she waited she saw him 
turn up a lane opposite the cross, and then she was 
surprised to see another figure join him. Her heart 
leapt into her mouth. Was it Sezerina ? If so, she 
must have run out of a back door whilst she and 


M 


claudea's island. 


162 

Teilo were talking. Claudea dared not follow them ; 
so she merely went quickly up the street till she 
reached the “ Mermaid.” 

Martin Dewis was at the door, smoking his -pipe 
and enjoying the warm evening air. 

Well, my dear, where have you been ? Silvester’s 
come over, and he and mother are talking. Vm 
waiting for Morgan. There’s Joe Jones declares the 
horse we sold him last week isn’t sound. My belief 
is he put him into that damp stable, and he’s just 
developed the thrush in his forefeet, but as to being 
sound — Morgan had better give him a bit of his 
mind. Morgan is later than' usual. I don’t know 
what’s come over him lately. He’s that glum, it’s 
enough to turn the milk sour.” 

Claudea put her arm into her father’s, and stood 
there beside him. Martin Dewis glanced at her with 
a feeling of pride. There was no girl at St. Castell 
that came anywhere near to his girl, and no one but 
himself knew the snug dower he was saving up for 
her. Claudea should marry the man she pleased, 
except — Well, the other day Morgan had muttered 
something about Teilo making up to Claudea. No, 
Teilo was too gloomy, too much of a Methody, to be 
Claudea’s husband. Martin always had been a Church- 
man, and looked down on the Methodists with 
supreme contempt. However, at the bottom of his 
heart Martin knew that if Claudea chose to marry 
Teilo he would never have the heart to say no ” for 
very long ; but Dewis understood his girl better than 


WITH THE '‘SEA-GULL.” 163 

to have much fear on this subject. “ She wants sun- 
shine, not a storm-cloud, always going about with 
her/' he had one day remarked to his wife. 

“Morgan may say more to Jones than you mean 
him to say, father,” answered Claudea, smiling a little, 
though her heart seemed heavy. “ Why don’t you see 
the man yourself.' You nevei^make people angry.” 

Martin Dewis laughed. To be praised by Claudea 
was joy to his heart. 

“Well, ril see about it. Morgan is certainly free 
with his tongue when his temper’s up. There’s some- 
thing wrong with him. No one would say he was a 
child of mine, eh, Claudea ? — not like you and Silvester. 
Nature works awry at times, no doubt about it.” 

“There’s something wrong about the weather for 
to-morrow, I should say. Look, father, at that low 
cloud in the east. It’s strange, isn’t it } ” 

“A little thunder-cloud, that’s all, child. It’s been 
over hot this week. Let’s come in to supper. Silvester’s 
brought us the finest lobster I’ve seen this many a 
long day.” 

The evening meal was always a cheerful one at the 
“ Mermaid,” especially if Morgan was not present, as 
was fortunately the case this evening. Martin was full 
of talk about the island farm, comparing it with the 
one on the mainland, and sheep was a subject of which 
the men never grew tired. 

Claudea entertained her mother with a description 
of the newcomers, and then Silvester was told to make 
Betty prepare a befitting tea when the ladies should 


164 claudea's island. 

arrive, for hospitality was a sacred duty at the farm. 
At last, when Claudea was alone in her room, she 
threw open her lattice window which looked towards 
the islands, now all blotted out in blurred dimness. 
The warm night air was wafted towards her laden with 
sea salt and full of mysterious calm. It gently blew 
in, and waved the stray dark curls which nestled over 
Claudea’s forehead. Then her heart seemed to leap 
for joy as she took down a volume of poems Herbert 
had given her. The very touch of the book brought 
back the sound of his voice and the echo of the words 
he had spoken, especially the words he had spoken 
to her on the island. The new joy of this strange 
love, this love that was higher and better than any- 
thing she had ever possessed, thrilled through her, 
and seemed to raise her into another Claudea. True, 
Teilo had spoken against this new affection, but his 
words did not trouble her over much. She was sure 
Herbert meant what he said, and if he loved her he 
could not intend to take her away. He had told her 
how the world had deceived him, and how here in 
St. Castell he had found a new peace and a new joy. 
Here he should always have leisure for writing 
his thoughts, and his recreation should be painting 
the beauty so lavishly scattered around him. He 
would read and explain beautiful poems to her, and 
then on summer evenings they should step into 
the dear “ Sea-gull,’^ and sail away towards the west 
till darkness brought them back to what Herbert had 
once called The Island of the Blest.'' This was the 


WITH THE SEA-GULL.’ 


165 


picture which Claudea saw so clearly in a mental vision 
— a vision which satisfied her, and made her kneel down 
and thank God that He had given her so much happi- 
ness. To her God appeared so good, so gracious; 
He was not at all like Teilo’s God, who was always 
calling for vengeance on the sons of men. Claudea 
would have liked to go to Teilo's poor ignorant fisher- 
folk and tell them the Son of God had come to give 
them love, and to ask them for their love again ; she 
would have assured them that He loved every living 
thing on earth, and all the creatures in the sea, and all 
those dear wild sea-birds who sought and found shelter 
on Claudea’s island during their nesting-time. 

At last she closed the window and went to bed. All 
night she seemed to dream that Herbert was with her. 
They were on the island, and roses covered the porch 
of the old farmhouse, and she and he picked them 
one by one till the tree was bare. Then she looked 
up at him and said, It seems a pity we have picked 
them all;” but he laughingly answered, ‘'Gather ye 
rosebuds while ye may ; ” and Claudea in her dream 
remembered this was only a poem, and she wished so 
much she had not picked them all, every one of them, 
and she mourned a little, till Herbert kissed her tears 
away, and she remembered no more. 

When she awoke she remembered the visitors ; but 
the vision haunted her, and she still felt grieved about 
the roses, till, having much to do before she ran down 
to the Forth, she gradually forgot her dreams in the 
present reality. 


claudea's island. 


1 66 

It was a very hot, oppressive day. The sea looked 
sullen, as if it were nursing angry feelings, and, as she 
and Dumb Davy busied themselves to see that all was 
right with the Sea-gull,'' Claudea questioned the boy 
as to the clouds which were low down in the northern 
horizon. 

** Will the day last out fine, Davy ? It is strangely 
oppressive." 

There'll be trouble to-morrow," was the answer ; 
" but we can get over easily, even if it comes earlier." 

'‘We shall have ladies, Davy. They may be afraid." 

Davy shrugged his shoulders in utter contempt of 
ladies who had nerves. His lady was never afraid ! 

At this moment Miss Ashton and Miss Medlicott 
appeared. Gina was arrayed in the prettiest blue dress 
imaginable, and her attire was perfected by a coquettish 
blue sailor hat. Claudea smiled her welcome and her 
silent admiration, as she remarked, 

“ We are quite ready for you. Let me help you in." 

She said nothing more just then, for she was anxious 
to steer clear of the Whelps, and to time her arrival at 
the island with the turn of the tide. There was a 
decided swell to-day, though no large waves were 
formed near land. Gina leant back against the cushion, 
and feasted her eyes on the sight of Claudea. She was 
quite in love with this ideal picture, and with the girl's 
graceful motions. Her own failures in life had dis- 
gusted her with the past, this present seemed now 
exactly the right thing for her happiness. She must 
have been waiting for it, so she said to her aunt 


WITH THE SEA-GULL.” 167 

When they rounded the Whelps and safely 
grounded on the tiny beach, she expressed her 
sentiments to Claudea : 

“This is really too beautiful ! I must live at St. Castell 
always. I never wish to leave it ! ‘ Far from the 

madding crowd,' isn't it, Aunt May ? Then these 
islands, and this one which belongs to you — Sezerina 
has told us the romantic story about it — it is to be 
your wedding present ! I must be your bridesmaid. 
It would be so original. What a pretty old farm- 
house up there ! and, Aunt May, look at the cliffs, and 
what myriads of birds — some fly singly, some in little 
companies. I wish I knew all about birds. Let's go 
at once to the bird-cliff.” 

Claudea led the way. The fern stood high now, 
and the heather and gorse were thick and difficult to 
pass through. Occasionally the thrift conquered the 
grass, and made a carpet of pincushion-like tufts, over 
which grey rabbits scampered away at the sight of 
strangers. Gina herself looked like a tiny blue butter- 
fly, as she hovered over this or that wild flower, wish- 
ing to pick everything she saw. Of course they paused 
near Thordis, at whose base Miss Medlicott sank 
down, overpowered by the heat of the sun. 

“ Thordis will shelter you,” said Claudea, turning to 
the elder lady. “ She has often sheltered me from the 
wind and the rain.” 

The figure of “ Thordis ” quite made up the sum of 
Gina's happiness, and she exclaimed, 

“ Such a nice Scandinavian name — and what great 


claudea\s island. 


i68 

storms she has seen ! What men she has inspired ! 
Did your artist try to draw her, Miss Claudea ? 
If not, I must make a sketch of her. Perhaps I 
shall be the first who has thought of doing such a 
thing.” 

“ The artist only sat near her,” said Claudea, 
smiling at the recollection. ‘‘ Perhaps when becomes 
again he will draw her. Come and see the few birds 
that remain.” 

She led them to the edge of the cliff on the western 
side of the island, and here Gina found no words 
to express her wonder at the sight before her — the 
roar of the surf against the perpendicular rock, 
mingled with the shrill cries of birds, and their 
ceaseless flight from, and their return to the rock. 
But a little way from the cliff Claudea pointed out 
some smaller birds swimming hither and thither in 
the water, diving for small fish, and quarrelling fiercely 
among each other. 

“They sound more like cats squalling than birds,” 
said Claudea. “ Those are stormy petrels. They 
come here usually before a storm. Do you see how 
sullen the sea looks ? and yet I love it in all its looks.” 

“ Come away, Gina, the sight makes one giddy. 
Nature is not soothing in this spot,” said Miss 
Medlicott. 

Then Claudea laughed, and led them away from 
the edge to more smiling nature. The haze of heat 
was over the distance, but some of the islands looked 
like chips of old copper edged with white foam. 


WITH THE “sea-gull/’ 169 

‘'We must not linger long after tea,” said Claudea, 
pointing out and naming the islands and the head- 
lands. “ I do not like the look of the sky.” 

“We are not afraid of the sea,” said Miss Medlicott. 
“ It is such a short crossing.” 

At that instant there was a sudden noise at their 
feet, and a great bird extended its white and brown 
wings and flew away before them. 

“ Look, look, what is it ? ” asked Gina. “ Is it an 
owl .? ” 

“Oh, no,” said Claudea, turning pale, “that is a 
buzzard. We have them here occasionally, and the 
poor folk say it is a sign of bad luck ; but there is no 
such thing as luck, Mr. Hathaway says. That is a 
heathenish thought. Our poor people are like children ; 
they like stories and legends, and they see luck and 
ill-luck in many things.” 

“ My aunt hasn’t one superstition, but I assure you. 
Miss Claudea, that I have very many. I never allow 
blackthorn to be brought into the house, and — but 
look ! who is waving to us } ” 

“ It is my brother ; we must come home,” said 
Claudea, turning back. They retraced their steps, 
and found that a beautiful tea was spread out for 
them in the old parlour. Gina admired everything, 
not least of all Silvester’s tall handsome figure, and 
the gentlemanly manners that distinguished him. 
One could see he was Claudea’s brother. 

“ You must not linger very long to-day, ladies,” he 
said. “ The sea is beginning to lash itself into an 


claudea’s island. 


170 

angry mood. Will you like me to go with you ? ’’ he 
said, turning towards his sister. 

“Oh, no. You wouldn’t get back if a storm really 
comes on. I’ll take the ‘Sea-gull’ straight through 
the opening in the Whelps.” 

“May I come again, Miss Claudea said Gina, as 
they stepped down the rude rocky stairs, “ and will 
you come and see us very often at the mill 

Claudea smiled as she and Silvester helped the 
ladies into the rocking “ Sea-gull.” “ We always try 
to do what gives our visitors pleasure ; but if you 
have the rocks and the sea, you want nothing else,” 
she said simply. 

“Make haste, Claudea,” said her brother, “I can 
smell the storm.” 

In a few minutes the “Sea-gull” appeared to those 
on land to dart forward out of the smooth water and 
then valiantly to battle with the waves. 


i 


CHAPTER XIV. 

MISTAKEN IDEALS. 

“ Wait, and Love himself will bring 
The drooping flower of knowledge changed to fruit 
Of wisdom. Wait, my faith is large in Time, 

And that which shapes it to some perfect end.” 

INA looked radiantly happy as she sat 
down on a chair inside Dumb Davy's 
home, but her aunt leant back faint and 
pale. The crossing had been very rough, 
and had considerably frightened the poor lady. Indeed, 
there had been some danger, for the wind had hindered 
them at starting, and they had not caught the tide at 
the exact time. Claudea did not know the meaning of 
fear, but she was sorry for the tossing which one at 
least of the ladies had not enjoyed. 

“ My aunt will soon be better," said Gina, holding 
a glass of water to Miss Medlicott's lips ; “ but it was 
beautiful ! I could not keep my eyes off that lovely 
lightning in the distance, and you looked like some 
mythological maiden rowing us to the gloomy shore 
of Hades." 

‘‘You can go by yourself another time," said her 
aunt, opening her eyes. “ I’ve had enough of your 




172 


CLAUDEA*S ISLAND. 


islands. Who could expect to be so tossed about irl 
such a short crossing } I feel better now. I think I 
can walk back to the mill.” 

Dumb Davy shall carry your shawls, and if you 
will take my arm I think you would prefer walking,” 
said Claudea, in the gentle protecting manner that at 
once drew hearts to her. There were occasional 
rumbles heard of distant thunder, and on the low 
horizon broad flashes of sheet lightning could be 
seen, but as yet there was no rain. 

The storm is still far off,” said Claudea on their 
way home. ‘‘ I am glad we did not delay longer, but 
you must not think badly of the island in consequence. 
If you could see a storm from there you would 'for- 
give the bad passage across. The sea seems to raise 
itself up in great angry waves, as if anxious to sweep 
away all the rocks and islands in its path. But they 
are so calm and quiet, and bear patiently the sea’s 
anger, till once more all is quiet and peaceful around 
them.” 

“ That is a beautiful picture,” said Gina, lifting her 
blue eyes to Claudea, and thinking she had never 
seen anyone so wonderful before. Never again would 
she talk of common people or the vulgarity of the 
middle class if it could produce a Claudea, forgetting 
that perhaps exceptions prove the truth of rules. 

The windmill stood out in dazzling whiteness 
against a background of angry indigo sky. The sails 
were not going, but the wind whistled through the 
skeleton arms as if longing to send them whirling 


MISTAKEN IDEALS. 


^73 


into space. Mrs. Price and Sezerina both ran out to 
welcome back their visitors, but Claudea noticed that 
Sezerina's eyes were red as if she had been crying, 
and that she did not look at all happy. 

Poor Rina,” she thought, if only she could get 
over this folly. If I had the courage I would speak 
to Morgan myself, but it is not always safe to speak 
to him. He will sometimes do something worse to 
spite one.” 

Miss Medlicott went to lie down, but Gina insisted 
on bringing Claudea upstairs to see her sketches. 

Sezerina disappeared into her own parlour, having 
no liking for the pretty lady who had taken such a 
fancy to Claudea. China and hardware do not look 
well on the same shelf. Gina in the meanwhile seated 
herself near to Claudea, and turned over her sketches 
and her treasures. She made up her mind that 
Claudea must henceforth be her friend, and that she 
must learn from her how to manage a boat, and live 
the same free happy life as did this beautiful child of 
nature. 

'‘My aunt says that I shall never know my own 
mind, but she is wrong. I am sure I should be happy 
to live here always, and to learn all you know about 
nature.” 

"Oh, it isn't learning, it's loving everything, and 
loving seems often to mean pain. When Blackstar 
died, something went out of my life, but to you she 
would only have been an ordinary cow. How can 
one teach people that ? Besides, you are a grand 


J74 


CLAUDEA^S ISLANt). 


lady. St. Castell or the island would seem small to 
you, whilst to me it is immense ; it is my world.” 

‘‘ But when you marry, your husband must think as 
you do ? ” 

‘‘Yes, he will. A man is different. He lives either 
in doing or m thinking, and you see one could 
think as much as one liked on my island. I have 
often stayed close to Thordis all through a long 
summer afternoon thinking and thinking, and I did 
not want parties and amusement as you would want 
them.” 

“ I don’t care about parties either. I want something 
to fill my imagination. Do you know, Miss Claudea, 
you have been able to feed your own imagination, 
and I wanted someone to provide mine. I must tell 
you my faults — for I think you are good and beautiful, 
and you would not misunderstand me. I was engaged 
to a very nice good man. He was clever, and yet after 
a time he did not seem to be able to fill my heart and 
imagination enough. So I broke off our engagement 
because I was really in love, or thought I was, with 
another man, but that has all come to nothing; and 
sometimes I feel that I was wrong, and that truth is 
better than imagination, and if I had been true to — 
to my lover, I should have learnt to be better and 
more satisfied with myself.” 

“We must love others for themselves, not for what 
they give us,” said Claudea, folding her hands, and 
looking far out upon the stormy sea. “ If you had 
been true to your lover, your life would have been 


MISTAKEN IDEALS. 175 

truly filled. But I ought not to be saying this to 
you." 

‘‘You don’t know how much I like to hear you 
talk. Indeed, I see now I was wrong, and I believe I 
do love him still ; indeed, I know I do. If he were by^ 
my side now, I should tell him I was sorry. I wonder 
if he would forgive me." 

“ If he loved you really, I am sure he would.” 

“Yes, if — but I believe my punishment will be to. 
care about him when he no longer cares for me." 
Gina stood up, and she too looked out upon the 
stormy distance. “ I want my life filled, and now at 
times it seems so empty, so empty. You have no 
such feelings have you ? " 

“ No. God’s dear sea and land and all his creatures 
fill it. Besides," added Claudea simply, “ I have a 
lover too, and I have not cast him off as you have 
done. He will come back here some day, and we 
shall be as happy as the day is long. He looks upon 
God’s world with true eyes, and all his thoughts are 
great and beautiful." 

“Then he must be a very uncommon man. Do tell 
me more about him." 

Claudea shook her head. 

“ I must not say any more about him now ; but you 
are very kind, and some day I will come and tell you 
all the story, and ask for your sympathy." 

“ Indeed, you shall have it. And in return, if ever 
I find the man I wronged, and if ever the past is 
forgiven and forgotten, I will come and tell you, 


176 


claudea's island 


Claudea — I may call you Claudea, may I ? — and you 
will wish me joy because it was your face that first 
made me dream of repentance/’ 

“ Oh, no, not mine, not mine ; but perhaps the face 
of our dear rocks and hills, and all the works of God 
in this beautiful place. You cared about them a 
little, and they have told you their secret. When I 
am in trouble they comfort me, for you know Nature 
only talks to those who understand her.” 

“ Will my life be ever filled again ? ” said Gina, 
resting her curly head against the back of the big 
armchair. “ Sometimes I think not, and that my 
fate will be that I shall always go on wishing for the 
moon. If I could see the man who loved me truly, 
and if I could explain all the mistake, perhaps he 
would not understand me as you do.” 

“If he is good and great as you say he is, then he 
would understand.” 

When the two parted they seemed to understand 
each other as if they were old friends. Gina had 
found a woman who, with equal powers of imagina- 
tion, had yet a much higher moral standpoint than 
her own — the pure faith of a little child and the 
higher ideal of the Christian woman. 

As Claudea stepped out into the lane, she looked 
about for Sezerina, but she heard and saw nothing of 
her. Large drops were falling, and the darkness was 
strange and weird. 

“ Sezerina ! Sezerina ! ” she called again ; but there 
was no answer. “ I wish she would confide in me as 


MISTAKEN IDEALS. 


177 


she always did in old times,” thought Claudea. 
“ What has come to her, I wonder } She is very 
unhappy, I am sure. What can I do to help 
her ” 

But Claudea had now to hasten indoors, for soon 
the raindrops multiplied, and fell like pellets of lead, 
as if angry at having reached the earth. She was 
quite wet before the friendly porch of the Mermaid ” 
was reached, and Mrs. Dewis came running out, glad 
to see her child safely at home. 

Indeed, Claudea, you must change your petticoat ; 
it is wet. Hark at the thunder ! My mind has been 
very uneasy all the afternoon, knowing you were out 
yonder with the ladies ; but Dumb Davy came and 
told me you had all landed. Father always declares 
that you and Davy are safe enough, but I never can 
feel quite happy. It's a nasty bit of sea, and if there 
should be a hurricane ” 

‘‘Then no one would start in a storm, you know, 
mother dear. Still, I’ll own I was glad to see the 
ladies safe on land. There was no danger for us ; but 
sometimes visitors are frightened, and don’t keep 
still.” 

“ By the way, Claudea, here’s a letter for you. It’s 
from London. See if it’s a visitor.” 

Claudea opened the letter slowly. A bright flush 
spread over her face, and she turned away. She knew 
the writing, but she looked at the signature to make 
sure. Then she said calmly : 

“ No, mother, it’s not from a visitor ; it’s from 
N 


178 


claudea’s island. 


Mr. Ravenscroft. Til tell you more presently.” 
Then she put the letter in the bosom of her dress, 
and went about her business, hardly hearing the 
thunder, or noticing the great streaks of lightning 
which zigzagged across the heavy clouds of blue 
blackness. 

Herbert Ravenscroft had written to her! It was 
Claudea s first love-letter, as wonderful and precious 
to her as a first love-letter must be to every true- 
hearted woman. She would not read it till she was 
alone, and it was not easy to be alone at the “ Mer- 
maid ” till she went up to bed ; so she kept the precious 
paper close to her heart, and smiled at her own 
happiness, hardly hearing the talk at supper. 

“ Come, Claudea, let's draw the curtain, girl, and 
shut out this storm,” said Martin Dewis. “Where's 
Morgan ? He’s getting that unsociable, it’s not often 
he joins us at the right time.” 

Morgan won’t look at his blessings with both 
eyes,” answered Mrs. Dewis, trying to take her son’s 
part. “ In time, Martin, he’ll come round. You 
must be patient with him, my man.” 

“ I prefer seeing blue sky about me,” said Martin, 
sitting down with a beaming face, for his good nature 
seldom failed. “ It’s the Methodies that love stormy 
weather, and prefer dulness. We church-folk have 
never been like that, thank God ! ” 

“ We have all our good points,” answered his wife ; 
'' but pride hasn’t such a good fit on the figure as 
humility, Martin. Good Lord, what a clap of thunder! 


MISTAKEN IDEALS. 1^9 

Claudea, dear, go to the front, and see if the yard- 
gate is shut.” 

Claudea rose hastily, and opened the porch door. 
The heat was still oppressive, in spite of the rain. 
Not heeding the downpour, she stepped out a moment 
to do her mother’s bidding. As she stood there, 
sheltering herself under a great thorn-bush, a figure 
passed her quickly, on the other side of the gate, 
which bordered the high road. The instant, however, 
was enough for her to recognize Sezerina’s figure 
wrapped up in an old homespun cloak. Regardless 
of the storm, Claudea opened the gate and hastened 
after her friend, calling her by name : 

“ Rina, Rina, where are you going ? Come back ! ” 

But there was no answer. A sudden flash of light- 
ning all at once seemed to envelop Sezerina, and to 
show every fold of her great cloak ; then darkness 
succeeded, and when Claudea tried to peer into it all 
was blotted out of sight. She knew that it was no 
good going further, for Sezerina did not mean to be 
overtaken, but what could be her motive ? 

“Why, child, whatever did you mean by staying 
so long ? ” exclaimed her mother ; “ you are wet to the 
skin. You had only just to look out.” 

“ I thought I saw someone going by who wanted 
shelter, but they disappeared.” 

“A fool who is walking about at this moment 
must stand sorely in need of cooling his brains,” said 
Martin, laughing. “ Now, mother, cut the ham and 
let’s begin supper.” 


CLaUDEA*S ISLANt). 


1^0 

As the thunder rolled overhead, and the forked 
lightning appeared to hiss in blue jagged lines across 
the clouds, Claudea repeated to herself, Where can 
Sezerina be going ? My poor Rina ! 

Morgan was out too. Were they still meeting in 
secret ? Did her brother really care about Rina, and 
yet if he did would Mr. Price ever allow his daughter 
to marry a man of whom public gossip said nothing 
that was good ? Martin Dewis and his wife were the 
only persons who did not hear the local discussions 
concerning Morgan's ill fame. No one dared to come 
to honest upright Dewis and tell him the truth. 

At last the time came when Claudea could be 
alone, free to read her first love-letter ! She closed 
her door, and drawing back her curtain, looked into 
the black darkness. The thunder had ceased, except 
that low rumbling sounds could be heard far out to 
sea, preceded by pale blue flashes along the distant 
sea horizon. As she gazed towards the sky, the clouds 
parted, and one star shone forth. Then Claudea knelt 
down, and clasping her letter, she prayed that she 
might be worthy of this great gift that had come 
to her. Suddenly she remembered Teilo, and rose 
quickly with a sigh. 

“Poor Teilo! but I cannot give him what I have 
not got to give. Some day he will be glad, and he 
will become a true preacher, with no wife to hinder 
him or to spoil his work.” 

Then she unfolded her letter and read Herbert's 
loving words : 


Mistaken Ideals. 


i&t 

"My dearest Claudia, 

‘‘You told me not to write to you, but 
though I have plunged into town life again my heart 
flies back to St, Castell and to you. I find myself 
holding your hand and walking on your island. I see 
all the beautiful sights in my mental vision, and the 
birds bring me messages from you. It seems very 
long till Christmas, but I must obey you, unless you 
call me back. Some day, darling, I shall have your 
picture painted just as I saw you by Thordis, and all 
the beauty of the place will pass into your still more 
beautiful face, and I shall be at your feet> dear, 
waiting to hear you say ‘yes.’"' 

Then Herbert went on to tell her about his life 
and his friends, and he ended with these words : 

‘ The summer is going, my love, but let it go. I 
do not love it, as it keeps you from me. Let it fly 
away, and let the winter come and bring me to you. 
Good-bye, noblest and sweetest Claudia, 

“Your devoted lover, 

“ Herbert.” 

Claudea read and re-read this letter many times, 
read it indeed till she knew each shape of each letter, 
and till she had every word by heart The summer 
was flying, and the winter would bring Herbert back, 
and life would be all happiness. 

When she laid her head on the pillow she felt too 
happy for words ; only it seemed that God was cradling 
her in His everlasting arms, and that He bade her 


CLAUDEA^S ISLANt). 


1^2 

be of good cheer. “ God is good,” she murmured, 
“ God is good. He cares about each of our eligugs 
and about me — about me — and yet I cannot fly 
heavenwards as they do.” 

Then rocked by happiness Claudea fell asleep, and 
in her dreams there mingled the sights and the sounds 
of the island, which was all bathed in sunshine and 
glowing in the evening gold. But gradually the vision 
of gold faded, the wind rose and whistled through the 
rafters of the island farm. Then the sound changed 
into Blackstar’s dying moans, and Claudea's soul grew 
sad, and still more sad, till she started up to hear a 
shower of pebbles against her window. She jumped 
out of bed even before she realized what she was 
doing, and wrapping a big shawl round her, she ran 
to the casement. The moon was rising, a pale sickly 
moon, shedding only a faint glow on the surrounding 
objects. It was still warm, and every now and then 
a gust of wind swept by as if it were a belated 
straggler from the storm, bemoaning its loneliness. 

“Who is it ? What do you want ? ” asked Claudea, 
trying to distinguish the person who had disturbed her. 
Then she saw two long lean arms thrown up in silence. 

It was Dumb Davy, and his gesture said, “ Come at 
once, come at once ! ” 



CHAPTER XV. 

ON THE SHORE. 

“ The whole world’s life is a chant to the sea-tide’s chonfs ; 
Are we not as waves of the water, as notes of the song ? ” 

UMB DAVY stood there outside under 
Claudea’s window shivering from cold, and 
occasionally uttering a low unearthly 
sound, which in times of great excitement 
he seemed able to produce. His head shook, and his 
teeth chattered, as he gazed earnestly up at the case- 
ment above him. Then he saw the light disappear, 
but he could not hear the sound of unfastening bolts. 
At last his mistress, Claudea, stood before him. She 
seized his shoulder, not roughly, but as if anxious to 
make him understand her signs. 

David, what do you mean by coming here to me 
now ? Look, it is not three o’clock yet ; not a soul is 
awake. Tell me what is the matter.?’ How did you 
come here ? ” 

“Come with me quickly,” said Davy. “There is 
someone who wants help. You will know what to 
do. Come down at the Forth.” 



claudea’s island. 


184 

‘‘ Davy ! all that way ? Who wants me ? How can 
I go if you don't say more ? " 

Davy shivered again and turned his head away. 
He seemed too much mentally disturbed to be able to 
answer, and Claudea did not hesitate any longer. It 
was so strange for Davy to come and call her up like 
this in the dead of night, that he evidently thought 
she was much wanted, and she could not disappoint 
the poor boy. 

“ I am coming, Davy. Try and collect your wits, 
and tell me as we walk along what made you come 
for me.” She led the way, and stepping out of the 
garden gate, closed it softly behind Davy. The earth 
was overmantled with a misty cloud that spread to 
some depth over the lower level of the country. It 
covered the base of the old village cross, and hung 
thickly over the churchyard and over the river-bed, 
but above it all the silvery light tried to pierce the 
soft opaque cloud, at times seeming in this effort to 
tear it apart, and to disperse the wool-like fragments 
over uneven places. 

For some time the two walked quickly on in silence. 
After the churchyard was passed Dumb Davy ap- 
peared to lose some of his fears, and running on a 
few steps led the way, every few minutes turning back 
to see if Claudea were close beside him. As for her, 
she did not pause in her walk ; she hardly dared to 
think what had happened, only she knew it was some- 
thing dreadful to have made Davy come for her. 
The great silence of nature made her realize the lone- 


ON THE SHORE. 


I8S 

liness of the spot, almost frightening the girl who had 
so little natural fear. She would have blessed a bird 
who had chirped her one greeting, but all was silent 
except for that occasional moan of the wind. When 
they had walked about a mile, she caught up Davy, 
and again laid her hand upon his shoulder. They 
were reaching the rising ground that led to the Forth, 
and in the mysterious beyond was the great expanse 
of grey sea. The waves, just visible in the dimness, 
looked still angry and sullen after the storm, and 
there was a long calling sound of the underground 
swell, and the ceaseless beating of waves upon the 
rocky shore was now audible. 

“ Is the tide rising, Davy ? Has the turn come ? ” 
she asked, knowing Dumb Davy was as good as a 
table of tides. 

‘‘Yes,” signed Davy, “the tide has turned some 
while back, but we shall be in time.” 

“ In time for what ? Can’t you explain 

“ The body — his body is below.” 

Claudea was silent in her turn now. She shud- 
dered a little, and she w'ould not ask whose body it 
was ; but she began wondering where she could pro- 
cure help at such a time of night. Davy’s mother 
was a poor, feeble widow, and there was not another 
cottage anywhere close to that spot. The nearer they 
approached the Forth the quicker Dumb Davy 
walked, swaying his arms backward and forward as if 
to propel his body still faster. Claudea was fleet of 
foot, or else she could not have kept pace with him. 


claudea's island. 


1 86 

Now the Forth was in sight ; they passed the gate 
through the field, the only entrance to this bay ; then 
very soon they reached the head of the steep path 
down to the shore. Davy paused and appeared to 
listen, but to Claudea there came no audible sound 
save the sound of the eternal sea. 

“ Where is he, Davy ? ” she asked, shuddering a 
little, for the great grey silence frightened her. Davy, 
walking on, pointed below, and Claudea followed the 
lad, who now seemed to proceed with evident un- 
willingness, every few minutes pausing to peer down 
among the rocky edge that fringed the western 
side of the bay. She followed him anxiously as he 
stepped down upon the sand ; then, walking through 
the shingles, he crept close to the foot of the rocks, 
and peered in and out amongst their black masses. 

All at once he uttered his weird cry, quite unlike 
any sound made by the ordinary voice of a human 
being, and quickly drew back. 

There he is,” he signed to Claudea. He fell 
from above. I saw him fall.” 

Claudea shivered too ; she knew not why, for the 
poor motionless form she saw the next instant was 
not one to cause fear. It lay there so still, so very 
still ; only the wind lifted a little bit of his coat and 
flapped it, and blew away his hair from the forehead. 
Claudea stepped boldly forward now, for there was 
something for her strong woman’s hand to do. She 
stooped down and looked closely at the form. It was 
Teilo. His eyes were closed, and blood was matted 


ON THE SHORE. 


187 


on some portion of his thick hair. One leg seemed bent 
under him, and Claudea fancied it must be broken ; 
or worse — for stooping lower she fancied she heard no 
breath and that he was dead. A cold shiver ran through 
her. How came it that Teilo was here ? Teilo, who 
knew every step of the country better than she did her- 
self. How had he come here ? Was it an oversight in 

the dark night, or was it ? Anyhow, something 

must be done. She raised his head a little, and bade 
Davy try to liberate the leg. Then she dipped her hand- 
kerchief in a pool, and bathed the hair and forehead. 
She tried to feel his pulse, but her own pulses appeared 
alone to answer her question — “ Is he still alive 

Davy, we cannot carry him up the path, you and 
I. It is impossible. You must go for more help. 
Why didn’t you explain more You must make 
haste, too ; the bay does not take long to fill. I will 
stay here. Go to the Norris’ cottage ; there are three 
men there. They must come at once.” 

Dumb Davy seemed now to regain his calmness, 
and ran ofif to do as he was bid, whilst Claudea re- 
mained alone in the pale light, listening to the roar 
of the surf against the fringe of rocks that ran out for 
some way into the sea. 

His face she thought looked very stern and noble ; 
the deep-set eyes, now closed, were only defined by 
deep shadow ; the firm mouth and compressed lips 
spoke of great strength of character, and the fierce 
inward struggle this must always entail. 

“Poor Teilo!” thought Claudea, “he has not had 


claudea\s island. 


1 88 

much joy in his life ; even his religion was sad. That 
was because he could not believe that God is Love, 
and that God is good and does all things well. How 
could this accident have happened ? As she sat on 
a rock with Teilo’s head on her knees, she meditated 
deeply on this mystery ? She looked up above her 
to see what signs of the fall there were, but the grey- 
ness prevented her seeing clearly. She noticed that 
there were some clods of earth and grass close by ; 
they had, of course, fallen with Teilo, but it was all very 
strange. Next she began rubbing his hands, and 
trying to restore some circulation. She stooped her 
head low, listening for some faint sound of pulsation. 
She thought he still breathed, and smiled as' she con- 
tinued patiently rubbing his hands. Time passed, but 
time now seemed like eternity, for before her was the 
in-coming tide, bounding up against the rocks, and 
slowly covering those which stood as sentinels to the 
rest. The light was gradually increasing, but what 
could Davy be doing that he was so long ? If the tide 
came up to them, alone she could not drag Teilo 
out of the way, for he was a big, strong man, and 
too heavy for her to lift. Would Davy make the men 
understand ? She had forgotten that everyone did 
not make or comprehend his signs as she did. But 
what else could she have done : Never had Claudea 
felt so helpless and so puzzled, for the waves had now 
come within a few feet of Teilo, and the cold salt 
spray at times flung a whole shower over them both. 
She must do something. Very gently she lifted 


ON THE SHORE. 


189 

Teilo’s head, and placed it flat on the sand ; then get- 
ting up from her cramped position she stooped down, 
and putting her hands under his arms, she dragged 
him forward a few inches. She heard a very slight 
groan of pain, which comforted her ; but then she 
saw to her dismay how little she had been able to 
move the wounded man. That little, however, re- 
vealed something which made her feel cold as a stone 
as she stooped down to pick it up. It was a cap, and 
a cap of such peculiar make and colour that she could 
not mistake it. She had often laughed about it, and 
teased Morgan about it. It was his cap. She could 
have sworn to it in any court of justice, and so could 
half the village of St. Castell. Morgan’s cap! Her 
brother had then been concerned in this ; she felt 
that this was true. She had dimly guessed it before ; 
only nothing would have made her formulate her idea 
in words. She had always dreaded that something 
dreadful would happen, and now here was proof. 
No, there must be no proof. ’She could not guess or 
say what had taken place. It might have been that 
Teilo was in the wrong, and when he was able to 
defend himself he should speak or no, as he thought 
best It took l\er but a moment to make up her 
mind ; then she seized the cap, which had blood on 
it, and leaving Teilo, she went down to the water’s 
edge, and eagerly looked about for some hiding- 
place. The sea was bad at keeping secrets. Without 
reason the waves sometimes floated in to shore strange 
bottles, or bits of wrecks, or other relics. It might 


190 


claudea’s island. 


refuse to keep this secret ; but somehow it must be kept. 
She climbed on to the rocks as far as the water would 
let her, and looking about for a deep fissure, she 
dropped the tell-tale cap into it, forcing it down with 
a sharp stone and then filling up the hole. 

She had barely succeeded in doing this when she 
heard voices, followed by a shout, so she rose hastily 
and made the best of her way back, though not with- 
out some difficulty, for the rocks were slippery with 
salt water. Then she saw that a great foam-crested 
wave dashed itself on the shingles at Teilo's feet, and 
covered him with white scum and fragments of sea- 
weed. At the same moment two strong men lifted 
him bodily away out of this second danger of death. 

“ Why didn’t you come sooner ? ” said Claudea, 
still feeling guilty. ‘‘ I did not know what to do. I 
could only drag him up a few inches.” 

Christian and John Norris were two young fisher- 
men, not famed for sobriety, but not bad-hearted 
fellows either. 

We couldn’t wake easily. Miss Claudea ; and then 
for the life of us we couldn’t understand Dumb Davy. 
Indeed, father refused to come, though I declared he 
wanted us all. It’s a bad job, this is. He” (pointing 
to the unconscious form) “must have been coming 
home from one of the villages, but why he should fall 
over beats us. However, I think John and I can 
carry him up again. If we had a stretcher now, it 
would be easy ; but there’s no time to fetch one.” 

“ Davy can fetch a blanket,” said Claudea. “ That 


ON THE SHORE. 


191 


will be better than carrying him. He groaned when 
I touched him.. You see it was very dark before the 
moon rose, and I dare say he missed his way.’* 

** If it *a been Christian now,” said John, chuckling, 
‘‘there would ’a been no difficulty in guessing the 
reason, but Teilo Price is a teetotaler. Good Lord ! 
how Dumb Davy gives me the creeps, with his legs 
and arms like windmill sails, and his head shaking fit 
to fall off ; still he can run ! Whatever did he fetch 
you for, Miss Claudea ; it was very brave of you to 
come alone with that lad so full of his antics. There 
ain’t another in St. Castell as would do it.” 

Claudea smiled. 

“ Pm not afraid of the dark, and Dumb Davy’s as 
gentle as a child, and very quick of thought, too. 
He’s more brains than you others know of.” 

“ Were you looking for a boat. Miss Claudea, when 
we came down ? Davy was quite frightened the first 
minute at not seeing you by the body.” 

“ Oh, no ! I — I was tired of sitting still, and I was 
cold, too. Here is Davy and the blanket. Now lift 
him up gently.” 

Claudea proved of great help now in giving direc- 
tions for the wounded man’s comfort. It was settled 
he should be taken to the widow’s cottage, and that 
Christian should run for the St. Castell doctor, and 
John was to take a short cut to the mill to warn the 
Prices of the accident. 

“Are you going to walk home. Miss Claudea ? ” he 
asked. 


CLAUDEA^S ISLANt). 


19^ 

‘‘ ril wait at the cottage a bit till the doctor comes. 
I can^t leave till I know,” she answered. 

In a few minutes the procession of men had gone 
up the path, and Claudea was left alone with Dumb 
Davy. She stooped down and examined the place 
where Teilo had fallen. The sea was washing half 
over it now, and very soon all signs of the marks 
would be effaced. She heaved a sigh of relief She did 
not notice Davy till she felt him pulling at her skirt ; 
then rising she followed him up the path. When 
they had reached the summit, instead of walking 
across the field to his cottage Davy turned sharp 
round and followed the edge of the cliff. The light 
was becoming stronger now ; the dawn was breaking, 
and the half light added to the unreality of the scene. 
Mechanically she followed the boy till he stopped 
short, and pulling her sleeve made her pay attention 
to him, as with his brown bony fingers he traced out 
two footmarks. One was long and thin ; the other as 
long, but broader and deeply studded with nails. 
Claudea knew now what Davy meant, for he then 
started up, and turning round he pointed to his 
tiny window in the roof of the cottage. The lad had 
seen something from that same watch-tower ; he had 
seen, and he knew. 

Claudea put her hand on his shoulder. Her face 
was deadly pale. 

** Davy,” she said in her sign-language, ‘‘ Davy, you 
know how it happened.^ You saw who was here 
besides Teilo Price .^” The boy nodded. “Davy, 


ON THE SHORE. 


^93 


because you love me — because I have done something 
for you — remember, never tell anyone.” She put her 
finger on her lips, and Davy did the same. There was 
a pause. Claudea understood, and was certain that wild 
horses could not draw the secret from Davy; she under- 
stood also why he had come to fetch her, alone, and in 
that strange manner; she understood everything, or 
thought she did so, and her heart was cold and sad. 

Davy, you are a good lad, and very, very faithful. 
I shall not forget it, Davy ; you may be sure of that.” 

Davy's face beamed with delight. All the anxiety 
and the frightened look disappeared from his thin face 
and his large startled eyes. She knew it, and she said 
he had done right. He was to be silent and to forget. 
Where was the living creature who would make him 
disobey her, his mistress, his Miss Claudea } Where 
indeed 1 

Claudea stooped down again, first looking round to 
see no one was watching her ; then she began as far as 
possible to efface the feet marks, Davy helping her. 
This done, she hastened back the way she had come, 
and walked across to the cottage. 

Davy's mother was busy doing all she could for 
Teilo, who had not yet opened his eyes, but now 
groaned at intervals. 

It's a sad business. Miss Claudea, a sad business, 
and you're an angel to take all this trouble. So it 
was my Davy who ran to fetch you. Bless the lad ! 
I never heard him go out ; I'm a very heavy sleeper. 
But there ! he shouldn't have gone to you, but he 
O 


194 


claudea’s island. 


thinks you know everything, and can do everything. 
He’s such faith in you, has my Davy.” 

'‘He was quite right. You see I can understand 
him better than anyone else does, and he knew I 
shouldn’t refuse to follow him. Oh yes, Davy was 
quite right. You must do all you can for Mr. Teilo. 
His poor father and mother will be sorely grieved at 
the accident, but you won’t be the loser for your 
trouble, though I’m sure you wouldn’t think of that if 
it was to help anyone, Mrs. Neeld.” 

“There’s no difficulty in knowing what to do. Miss 
Claudea. As for Davy, he’ll give his last crust away 
to a beggar or to a dumb creature. It’s my belief he 
understands what they say. Mercy on me, Miss 
Claudea ! I’m sure Mr. Teilo’s got a leg broke ! See — 
but I durst not touch it.” 

At last the doctor made his appearance, and the 
new day having finally opened its eyes upon St. 
Castell and upon the islands of the sea, also looked 
down upon the white stricken face of Teilo Price. The 
news soon became general, and the neighbourhood of 
the lonely cottage was the scene of much talk and 
discussion. Mrs. Price had hastened to her son, and she 
and the doctor were with him. All useless outsiders 
were turned out, and betook themselves to the cliff, 
to discuss, the accident above the spot where Teilo 
had fallen. That was all they knew, and very soon the 
whole place was so trampled on that any of the 
original footsteps Claudea had seen and had partly 
effaced became quite obliterated. 


ON THE SHORE. 


195 


Claudea walked home alone in the early morning. 
Her face had new lines of care and thought upon 
it, and her step had lost some of its elasticity. 
After she Jiad descended the hill, she entered the 
old church and knelt down to pray in the beautiful 
grey building, round which the starlings were already 
bestirring themselves, and preparing for their daily 
toil. Claudea prayed for those who had erred and 
strayed from God's ways ; she did not mention any 
name, even to herself, only with her child-like faith 
she added, “ O God, Thou knowest ; O God, have 
mercy ! " 

As she rose she pressed her hand against her 
bosom — against something that crackled, and then, 
suddenly remembering what it was, she smiled 
happily. Unconsciously she had placed Herbert’s 
letter in her jersey, and it had been close to her all 
through this dreadful time. 

‘‘ That was why I was so calm and so able to do 
the right thing. Yes — I did the right thing, I am 
sure I did. When Teilo is well again he will tell me 
the why and the wherefore, and he will thank me foi 
hiding that cap.” 

There you are, my dear ! ” exclaimed her mother, 
when Claudea entered. “ Well, well ; this is a sad 
accident, and Fm glad you were of use. It’s Dumb 
Davy who showed sense by coming to find you, that 
he did. You understand him better than anyone else.” 

At this moment Martin Dewis entered with a 
troubled face. 


196 


claudea’s island. 


“ Misfortunes never come alone. Look at this note, 
mother, which IVe just had. Tom Wolf brought it 
back from the station.” He handed a sheet of paper 
to his wife, and on it was written : 

‘‘ Dear Father, 


“You have made me for years a mere tool for 


your own plans and your own money-getting. Tm 
off to America ; don’t expect to see me again. Tell 
mother Fm sorry not to say good-bye to her. She is 
the only one I regret. 


“ Morgan.” 


Mrs. Dewis burst into tears, and Claudea was 
silent from surprise and dismay. Then kneeling down 
by her mother, she whispered : 

“ Mother, don’t cry. It is better so — better so. Our 
misfortunes are often our blessings— only we don’t 
know it. Tm sure of it, quite sure.” 

“ Ay ; but he was my son, child ; and let Morgan 
be what he may, I am his mother.” 




CHAPTER XVI. 



SET FREE. 

If I have freedom in my love, 

And in my soul am free,* 

Angels alone that soar above 
'Enjoy such liberty.” 

HERE was one person who almost en- 
joyed Teilo’s illness, and that was the 
Hon. Georgina Ashton ; for every day 
Claudea came up to find out how he was 
getting on, and to give a helping hand to Sezerina. 
Then Gina usually managed to lure Claudea upstairs 
into her sitting-room so as to have a talk with her. 
Very often their conversation turned on Gina’s forsaken 
lover; for now she knew that Claudea took his side, she 
liked to hear his defence from her lips. Also, Gina soon 
found out Claudea’s appreciation of poetry. She had a 
deep love for it herself, and a natural talent for reading 
it aloud ; so that even Miss Medlicott, who never was 
quite sure if this strange friendship was cofnme il fauty 
was won over when she saw that Gina really interested 
herself about reading books with this new friend. Of 
course Claudea was, she remarked, a very wonderful 
exception. With all her simplicity, she had superior 



claudea’s island. 


198 

abilities, and she evidently thought deeply about all 
she read; but then it was to be remembered that 
Claudea’s friends were by no means so extraordinarily 
superior. Good sort of people, of course, but — but — 
Then she added : 

I do hope, Gina, you don't mean to ask Claudea 
Dewis up to London when we go back there this 
autumn. People would be sure to ask where Miss 
Dewis came from. That is a polite way of inquiring 
if she is of good family. It really would not do to say 
she was an innkeeper's daughter. I don't say any- 
thing against her ; she is a very superior person, and 
very interesting, but " 

As if I cared, Aunt May, whose daughter she is. 
Everybody must be somebody's child. I can't help 
being father's child any more than Claudea can help 
her parentage. It is really quite ludicrous." 

‘‘ Still, my dear, there is a fitness in things. You are 
a great Radical, and of course it's the fashion, but if 

Claudea were not what she is, why " 

** Of course I shouldn’t like her and admire her so 
immensely. Honestly, Aunt May, the days have 
certainly come when we must take people as we find 
them. Herbert used to say so." 

I wonder you like to mention that poor fellow’s 
name. You treated him very badly, and he really 
was in love with you." 

I have confessed to Claudea, and she says he will 
forgive me. Of course I mentioned no names. There 
is one thing that troubles me, however, about dear 


SET FREE. 


199 


Claudea. I am so afraid she has a liking for poor 
Teilo Price. He is a very worthy man, but he is a 
Dissenting preacher, and not fit to tie her shoe-strings. 
She and Sezerina are quite, quite different. I do 
hope she will never marry this Teilo.” 

“The best thing she could do, I should say. He 
is a superior, handsome young man, only so sancti- 
monious-looking. A village wonder never succeeds 
in the heaii monder Do you remember Admiral 
Snelling } He married a village-girl. He said he 
had educated her, but the education was invisible, 
and she really was a trial.” 

IPs no use your speaking against Claudea to me. 
Aunt May. I have told her she shall be my friend,” 
and the pretty blue-eyed little lady firmly pressed 
her lips together, as if she was prepared to go to the 
stake for her new friendship. 

So she has not yet seen the invalid preacher } ” 

“ No ; he will see no one except his mother and the 
doctor — not even his sister. It is hard on her, poor 
girl ; but .evidently he has received a great shock from 
falling over the cliff, and the doctor says quiet is very 
necessary for his recovery. His leg will never be 
straight again, they say — the bone was so badly 
broken. There is Claudea coming ! Look, Aunt 
May ; isn’t she beautiful as she walks along } and so 
unconscious of her beauty.” 

Gina waved her small white hand as a sign she 
wished Claudea to come upstairs, and soon this latter 
made her appearance. 


200 


CLAUDEA’S ISLAND. 


“When are you going to take us to the island 
again ? Now it is September, and if you do not 
take me soon I shall go over with someone else,'’ said 
Gina. 

“ Indeed, I have had no time except to go over in 
a great hurry. It is six weeks since Teilo Price’s 
accident, and I am so glad to be able to help my 
friends a little. This morning Sezerina sent me word 
her brother wanted to see me. He feels stronger, and 
there is some idea of his being moved to our farm on 
the island. He would get well quickly there, I am 
sure.” 

“Are you very fond of Mr. Teilo.?” said Gina, 
laughing. 

“We — were playfellows. Yes, I am very fond of 
him. Now Morgan has gone to America I shall 
want another brother.” Claudea spoke thought- 
fully, and Gina felt sorry she had questioned her. 
Very often it seemed as if her own shallowness 
were being rebuked by Claudea’s straightforward 
simplicity. 

“ As a brother I give you leave to like him, but 
your absent lover must not be jealous.” 

Claudea’s face was suddenly illuminated as if by 
beautiful sunshine. 

“ If you knew what it was to love someone who is 
above you in all that is good and noble and — No, I 
shall love him always ; no one can take his place. I 
am happy even when I think about him, but lately 
I have had no time to think. Now I must go to 


SET FREE. 


201 


Teilo. His sister said he would soon be ready to see 
me. He will have much to say to me, poor fellow. 
This sad accident has put an end to many of his 
most loved plans. My heart is very, very sad for 
him." 

“Your sympathy would heal most wounds, dear 
Claudea," said Gina. “Well, then, remember very 
soon we must go over. But choose a calm, fine day, 
for my aunt’s sake." 

Claudea went into the passage and softly called 
Sezerina, who came slowly upstairs. 

“Is he ready, Rina Are you sure he will be 
strong enough to see me.^ You look quite worn 
out, dear. I wish I could help you more." 

Sezerina shook her head sadly, and her eyes filled 
with tears. 

“ Everything is changed ; Teilo is changed most 
of all. He will have nothing to say to me." Then 
with an effort she altered her tone. “ I think if he 
could stay on the island a little while he would be 
better, but, oh ! Claudea, mother says he’s terribly 
altered. Come upstairs. He likes best to lie in the 
little room at the top of the mill ; he can see all the 
islands up there, and the sunshine comes in upon 
him." 

Claudea mounted right up to the top of the mill 
and knocked at Teilo’s door. Her heart beat fast. 
What would he look like ? what would he say to her 
about that night ? She lifted up her heart in simple 
prayer, for ever since that time she had been bearing 


202 


claudea’s island. 


a burden about with her — a secret that oppressed her 
when she thought about it. Mrs. Price came out of 
the door to meet her. 

‘‘Come in, my dear. He's been expecting you; 
he’s been wanting to see you all day. It’s the first 
day he’s been equal to it, but the doctor says he’ll 
pull through now ; but, oh ! he won’t be the Teilo he 
was before. Anyhow, the sight of you will do him 
good. You’ll be able to get more out of him than I 
can. Teilo never was one to speak of what was 
nearest his heart. Go in, Claudea, and I’ll come up 
presently.” 

And Claudea went in. 

Teilo was lying on a large sofa drawn near the 
small window. His face was thinner and more gaunt 
than Claudea had imagined possible. His eyes 
looked like eyes that have seen strange sights — 
sights that have been burnt into their mental vision 
till the mind is filled with them and can see nothing 
else. For a moment Claudea stood in the doorway, 
and the September sunlight enveloped her and 
bathed her beauty in new glory and lovingly touched 
her shining hair. Teilo gazed at her, not as if he saw 
her, but as if he saw that other vision — a vision not of 
life, but of death ; and when that inward vision faded, 
Claudea’s face seemed only to give him pain. 

“ Oh ! Teilo,” she said, coming near to the couch and 
sitting down on a chair ; “ I’m glad to see you — glad 
you sent for me at last ; but I’ve heard news of you 
every day. Now you must do everything to get well.” 


SET FREE. 


203 


" Thank you. Fm getting on ; they say I shall 
be able to walk soon on crutches, and after that 
— but I shall never be what I was, Claudea. I 
shall always be lame, and most likely I shall never be 
a strong man again. God has taken away the glory 
of my strength and of my manhood. He did not want 
it. He thought ” 

“Don't say that,” said Claudea almost under her 
breath. “ God is good. Who knows if He may not 
give you more spiritual power instead of strength.” 

There was a pause, and Teilo looked away — far 
^way to the sea. 

“ I wanted to see you because you did a great deal 
for me on the night — of my accident. I wanted to 
thank you. You did it for the best, and yet some- 
times I wish neither you nor Davy had helped me 
back to life. The sea would have ended all pain.” 

That is poor thanks to God who gave you back 
your life, Teilo. Besides, you have so many friends 
waiting for you and longing for you.” 

Again there was a pause. The sick man was 
evidently longing to say something, and yet he was 
putting off the moment of saying it. At last, leaning 
on his elbow, he turned towards Claudea and looked 
at her earnestly. 

‘‘ I want to say something ; I have said it many 
times to myself as I waited here for strength which 
will never come back again. I want to tell you, 
Claudea, that I look at everything with different eyes 
now, God knows, the world was not over full of 


204 


claudea's island. 


sunshine before, but now it is dark — all dark. I shall 
never marry you or anyone, and I want to release 
you from your promise. Even if I were well I would 
never marry.” 

Claudea felt her heart bound with a wonderful 
new joy. She was free! Teilo had set her free! 
She had been quite certain before of her own feelings, 
but now she was released from this weary waiting. 
In the midst of her joy, however, came the throb 
of pain for Teilo and the weight of that secret. 

“Teiloj do you mean it} You know my word is 
not easily brokeil. I should have waited till Christ- 
mas Eve, and then only should I ” 

I tell you, Claudea, if I were the old Teilo I 
would not now marry — you.” He threw some scorn 
into the remark, and Claudea blushed as she rose and 
stood up to her full height. 

“ You need not speak like that, because — of what I 
cannot help.” 

Teilo’s eyes glowed with a strange fire, and he 
turned himself again towards her, searching her face 
to find out, if possible, the meaning of her words. 

What do you mea^n ? What do you know ? You 
can’t know. It was an accident.’' 

Morgan has • gone to America. We have not 
heard anything from him,” she said simply. 

know — but surely no one guessed but you, 
Claudea. Tell me no one — guessed. That is non- 
sense, too. You don’t know anything — you cannot — 
you never shall know what passed between us ; but 


SET FREE. 


205 


life ended for me that night — I am beginning to 
doubt about forgiveness now. I — I — Don’t stay any 
longer. I cannot bear any more.’' 

Claudea’s beautiful face was sad, and strangely 
troubled. She could not understand Teilo’s words. 
He was utterly changed — about that there was no 
doubt. She walked slowly and silently tov/ards the 
door, but Teilo called her back. 

Claudea, won’t you give me your hand just once ? 
and then forget me and all the pain associated with 
me. I shall never trouble you again, or weary you 
with my mad love.” 

Claudea came back, but she had been deeply 
grieved. She could only hold out her hand in 
silence. But the very touch of her warm fingers 
seemed too much for the sick man. He dropped her 
hand immediately, and motioned her away. 

When she was gone, and he had heard the last 
faint sound of her light footsteps, he buried his face in 
his pillow, and, clenching his teeth and hands, he 
tried to fight against his great mental agony. 

I love her — I love her still. Nothing can kill that 
love, not even Morgan’s wickedness ; but, even if she 
would have me, even if all were well, I could never call 
her mine — never. As it is, she loves another. I am 
sure of it — sure of it. She is so simple, she believes 
when her heart speaks. Oh, God ! why have I lived ? 
How can I work for Thee with this great hatred in my 
heart, and with the heart of a murderer within me ? 
How can I — how can I ?” 


2o6 


claudea’s island. 


The perspiration fell slowly from his brow, and the 
feeling of utter weakness was so strong that when 
Mrs. Price crept back again to her post, she found 
him in an almost unconscious state. 

My poor boy, my poor Teilo ! you shouldn’t have 
seen Claudea,” she said to herself^ He was so fond 
of her ; she should have married him, and then — and 
then ” 

But Mrs. Price knew that Claudea never had loved 
Teilo more than as a sister ; only she herself had 
lived in hopes that some day her son’s goodness and 
cleverness would win this bride, and that love for her 
would keep him at home. 

The next day Teilo was better, but very silent and 
gloomy. He had but one thought and one wish. 

“ Mother, if Silvester Dewis will let me, I should 
like to go to the island. I feel I shall get better 
there, and I shall see no one. The sea air will do me 
good, and I shall be able to breathe — I can’t here.” 

‘‘ It’s airy enough, however,” said his mother ; and 
you used to say you liked the sound of the mill-sails 
going round.” 

'' When I am stronger I shall like it again, but not 
now. It seems as if the great arms wanted to fling 
me into hell.” 

At this Mrs. Price hastened off to Martin Dewis, 
and easily obtained permission to take Teilo to the 
island farm. She meant to go and settle him in, and 
then come back to the mill as soon as possible ; for 
she could but ill be spared. Indeed, if it were not that 


SET FREE. 207 

Sezerina was such a helpfulj hardworking girl now, 
Mrs. Price could not have left home. 

‘‘ It is ever since Teilo’s illness she has turned over 
a new leaf,” thought her mother. ‘‘ She is very fond 
of Teilo ; though, strange to say, he seems to have 
turned against her and against everyone else. He 
won’t have her near him. It’s my opinion that fall 
affected poor Teilo’s brain; otherwise one couldn’t 
make it all out.” 

At the “ Mermaid ” there was no gloom as there 
was at the mill-house. After Claudea’s interview 
with Teilo she walked home sadly and thoughtfully, 
but before she reached her own room, joy had asserted 
itself and banished sorrow. It seemed to her that 
the September sun had never shone so brightly, the 
scent of flowers had never perfumed the air with such 
exquisite odours, the birds had never sung with such 
fulness of joy, and the island seen from the mainland 
was indeed to her the Island of the blest. 

All that evening she nursed her joy, and hugged it 
to her heart. She sang snatches of old songs, and 
chatted to her mother. There was no Morgan to 
damp her happiness, and Silvester, who came over to 
supper, was as cheerful as she was herself. 

Old Martin had got over his displeasure about the 
sudden disappearance of his son, and had supplied his 
place on the farm. He was quite contented if Claudea 
was with him, or if he could hear her sweet voice 
singing about the place. Of course some o. the talk 
turned on Teilo, and his wish to go to the island. 


2o8 


claudea’s island. 


Martin Dewis was only too ready to help his neigh- 
bours, and in his secret heart he was a little glad to 
think that a poor cripple as Teilo must be in the 
future could never aspire to the hand of h'is beautiful 
Claudea. This being the case he would do all he 
could for the young man, even though he did dislike 
his preaching and his canting ways. 

That night, when the house was still and quiet, 
Claudea wrote her first letter to her love. It was 
very short, but every word was written with a pen 
dipped in happiness : 

“ Will you come back now ? I am free, quite free 
to give you my love. You asked me for an answer, 
and I give it now. Yes, yes! come back to St. 
Castell and to our island home. I shall expect you 
every day till I see you, and then I can tell you all. 
The summer is not gone yet, and the birds have not 
returned on their way to warmer lands. Come back 
with them ; only do not go away any more, but stay 
always, always with one who loves you dearly. 

‘‘Claudea.’^ 

When Herbert Ravenscroft received this note, he 
did not hesitate, even though he was very busy, and 
was deeply engaged in work. Before starting for 
St. Castell, he visited several small and pretty houses 
in Chelsea, and told the agent he would write shortly 
about taking one of them. He wanted Claudea, but 
certainly not Claudea’s island. That really was out 
of the question ! 



CHAPTER XVII. 

AN OLD FRIEND. 

“ But love can every fault forgive, 

Or with a tender look reprove ; 

And now let naught in memory live, 

But that we meet, and that we love.* 

HAVE never felt happier in my life, 
dear Claudea. Something very nice must 
be going to happen,” said Georgina 
Ashton, sinking back into her cushions, 
and looking like some sweet mermaid who has 
taken a fancy to step into the boat owned by a 
human being, ‘‘but I needn’t say that, either. I am 
quite satisfied, oh ! yes, quite. I like to watch your 
movements, and this nice dumb boy is so like some 
mysterious attendant belonging to an ancient princess. 
It seems almost a pity that we should ever reach land, 
doesn’t it ? I am glad we are going to those more 
distant islands instead of to your island to-day. Never 
mind, just for once I want to see something new; I 
want to sail to eternity, if that were possible.” 

“We are sailing there,” said Claudea, gazing east- 
ward, where the rosy clouds melted into soft purple, 
“ but there is so much beauty here — oh, so much ! — if 
P 




210 


CLAUDEA^S ISLAND. 


one could get rid of the pain and sorrow ielt by 
others.” 

“ I am always wanting something I have not got, 
whilst you, Claudea, are so happy in the present.” 

‘‘ I am very, very happy. Why not, where one has 
so much, oh! so much given to one.^^ and then, 'the 
poetry of earth is never dead,’ Keats says.” 

“I believe you remember beautiful words quite 

naturally, because Oh, look at those birds, how 

quickly they flew by ! I wonder if they are the souls 
of wandering sinners seeking for the unfindable.” 

" God takes care of all souls, those who have sinned, 
and those who are striving up to Him, I think. I 
have often thought of that subject. I think Words- 
worth understood better than any poet how everything 
is from God, and returns to Him — sometimes through 
pain and suffering, sometimes through soft lapping 
waves of joy carried straight to God’s bosom.” 

There was a silence, and the " Sea-gull,” after 
avoiding the Whelps, made for the eastern channel so 
as to round Claudea’s island instead of landing there. 
As the boat lightly skimmed the waves and skirted 
the shore, Claudea gazed at her home with eyes full 
of love and longing. She seemed to forget the pre- 
sence of Gina, who also sank into a day-dream where 
regret mingled with a certain restless longing for 
something she had not got. 

It was a very happy day they spent, landing on the 
biggest of the smaller islands, and lying there on the 
yellow sand looking for milk-white shells, whilst 


AN OLD FRIEND. 


2II 


Dumb Davy boiled a kettle and made tea. Gradually 
the sweet September air seemed to lull both girls into 
that almost silent happiness which needs nothing 
more, and when the purpling afternoon began to 
give place to the crimson of evening, they re-em- 
barked and sailed towards home, but this time steer- 
ing westward, and passing close under the great 
frowning cliff-nursery of the sea-gulls and the hill over 
which Thordis presided. As they neared the farm, 
Claudea gazing at it saw someone sitting on a rock 
close to it, and her face clouded over. She knew it 
was Teilo ; she could even discern his outline, and she 
knew that he could see her as she rowed bravely 
westward. 

‘‘ Poor Teilo ! ” she said aloud. ** He will never be 
able to take his long walks again to see the fisher- 
folk. They will miss him sorely, I am sure. God 
must prepare much after-joy for souls who cannot find 
their happiness on this beautiful earth. ^ Eye hath not 
seen, nor eaf heard.' I think some eyes do see much 
farther than others." 

‘‘ I am glad my aunt did not come,” said Gina. 
^ She would have been afraid of all these rocks, 
wouldn t she ? How cruel they look, but how beautiful 
it all is! Yes, I shall stay here always, always, and 
you will be my friend always, won't you, Claudea 

Claudea looked at the prettily-dressed mermaid 
with her sky-blue dress and her sky-blue eyes, and 
thought she must be a true poet’s dream. Then she 
smiled one of her own beautiful smiles. 


212 


CLAUDEA S ISLAND. 


“ I shall always be your friend, of course, if you will 
let me call myself so. That seems such a wonderful 
name. One must do much for friends.” 

‘‘ It seems to me,” said Gina, shading her eyes, 
‘‘ that there is somebody in the bay sitting near the 
boat-house. Can it be your brother?” 

Claudea turned round, and she too shaded her eyes. 
Her heart beat faster as she said : 

I don’t think it is my brother, but we shall see 
when we land ; ” and to herself she added, “ I shall 
not look again, for fear I am wrong. If it were Her- 
bert, and if she could see that I love someone who 
will help me with beautiful thoughts, and who ” 

Gina still gazed, however, for she had her face to 
the shore. 

‘‘ It is very strange, but I should say it is someone 
I know, and yet he can’t be here. Dear Claudea, sing 
that boat song you sang some time ago. It will be so 
pretty to hear it floating over the water as we come 
near the shore — oh, so pretty! and you look so poetical.” 

“ Over the wavelet, 

Loose be the sail set, 

Far from the yellow sand, 

Far from the mainland ; 

Over the rocky bar, 

Still gleams the morning star. 

Steer for the open sea. 

Follow the sea-gull free, ^ 

Winds whistle cheerily, 

Answer them merrily, 

Far from the yellow sand, 

Far from the mainland.” 


AN OLD FRIEND. 


213 


Claudea laughed as she ended her song. It was 
one that Herbert Ravenscroft had sung, and she had 
picked it up from him. 

The words floated low over the water in the after- 
noon stillness, and were clearly and distinctly audible 
from the shore. Sitting near the boat-house, Her- 
bert could hear them as he watched the “ Sea- 
gull dipping and bounding homeward. He, too, 
shaded his eyes in order to see Claudea the better ; 
but who was with her in the boat ? Only now and 
then could he discern that it was someone arrayed in 
blue, for Claudea's figure intervened. A visitor 
doubtless ; perhaps one of Sezerina's visitors, and 
Claudea had made her an excuse to go over to her 
beloved island. Nearer and nearer came the boat. 
Dumb Davy as he stood up furling the sail soon 
entirely hid the patch of blue, but Claudea was dis- 
tinctly visible. He could trace the beautiful outline 
of her perfect figure, and he mentally thought of her 
and himself as sitting by Thordis ; then suddenly the 
boat turned, and after various little splashes darted 
into the landing-place. Dumb Davy jumped out and 
made the '' Sea-gull secure with the boat-hook. 
Herbert walked eagerly forward, when suddenly the 
blue figure stood up, and the two were face to face. 
If he had been confronted with his own ghost, Her- 
bert could not have felt more surprised and discom- 
fited than he did at this moment, nor more utterly 
speechless than when, with a little cry of surprise and 
pleasure, Gina seized his hand. 


214 


claudea's island. 


‘‘ I could not believe my eyes. Is it you really, 
Mr. Ravenscroft ? You here ! Claudea, let me intro- 
duce you. Here is Mr. Herbert Ravenscroft. I knew 
something pleasant was going to happen to-day. 
Oh ! I must say it at once. Claudea told me that I 
had behaved very badly to you. I didn’t tell her 
your name, for how could I guess you would come 
here ? Claudea, I did say, didn’t I, that I would tell 
him — I know you must hate me, but, oh ! I was 
so foolish, and so easily led away. Since I have 
been here I have seen how wrong I was ; Claudea 
here — she is a dear friend of mine — will tell you this 
is true.” 

During all this speech, which Gina poured out in 
the fervency of her repentance, Claudea and Herbert 
had stood silently by. If one or the other had stopped 
her at once by a confession of the truth, the next step 
would have been easier; but the whole scene had 
passed too quickly for thought or speech, and Gina’s 
upturned face seemed full of new beauty, as she 
looked into the eyes of her wronged lover — that is, 
the lover that had been* hers. Claudea gazings at 
him closely, saw more. She saw the shadow of pain 
pass over his features, and she saw his quick glance 
at her, begging for her silence. She saw it, and her 
woman’s mind understood, even that first moment, 
that when a man has loved once and loved truly, the 
dead voice has power to make itself heard again even 
from the grave. There was no melodrama possible 
in Claudea’s nature ; there was only one great over- 


AN OLD FRIEND. 21 5 

whelming thought and pity for him, and love at once 
taught her what to do. 

She stepped into the boat and motioned Dumb 
Davy to come with her. 

“Mr. Ravenscroft is a visitor at the * Mermaid/ 
Miss Ashton. He has been with us before ; that is why 
he is here now. Perhaps he will see you home ; I 
must go and look at our nets out yonder.” 

She looked at Herbert and smiled ; then with a 
few strokes of the oars she shot out to sea, and turned 
behind the near rocks out of sight. 

Herbert gathered up Gina’s shawl and sketching 
block, and walked with her towards the steep path 
up the cliff. He was wondering what to say, and 
what not to say. In any case he was bound to 
Claudea — true, beautiful Claudea. At this moment 
he did not even wish it otherwise. 

I did not know you^ were here, Miss Ashton, 
though I heard in London that you were not in town.” 

“You didn’t hear I was at St. Castell.? You must 
hate my name ; but I wanted to see you and confess. 
Claudea — I see you know her — isn’t she delightful ? 
Well, she told me I had wronged you, and — and— I 
think when suddenly married someone else I saw 
that I had run after a shadow. I thought he cared 
for me, but now I have given up the world, and I 
mean to bury myself here in Claudea’s island.” 

“You ! Indeed, that would be impossible.” 

“ I shall find peace, and in time you will let me 
have your forgiveness. I shall be happy then.” 


2i6 


claudea’s island. 


“ You have it now/’ said Herbert quickly; and then 
silence fell on them, as they walked past the widow’s 
cottage, and on towards the distant St. Castell. 

Gina had never felt her inferiority so much as she 
did now, walking by this man she had wronged, and 
seeing him look absent and preoccupied. She fancied 
he had forgiven her too easily. He could not have 
felt her treachery very deeply, otherwise he would 
not be so ready to forgive. He must first have for- 
gotten to be able to forgive. As it happened, she 
did not guess what was in his mind. She did not 
know that this mere sight of her had thrown him into 
a new trouble, and that he felt his late victory might 
soon turn into a defeat ; not one outwardly, that did 
not appear possible, but a defeat which he alone 
should know of. The blue eyes had a magnetic 
power of their own ; they had more of the weakness 
of the sex in their appealing look than Claudea’s 
dark, poetical eyes ; and, above all, she was of his 
own standing and of his own education, even if she 
did not possess half Claudea’s mental capacity. 

After a long silence Herbert spoke, very quietly 
and very gently : 

“ I have forgiven you, because time comes to our 
help ; but the cut in the tender bark is — is never 
completely healed. You do not care to look at the 
past, perhaps ; neither do I. If I did I should see a 
man who bitterly reproached you, and reproached fate 
who had made him cross your path — a man who had 
loved you simply because he could not help it. He had 


AN OLD FRIEND. 2l7 

no other reason and no other motive. Love had been 
a sudden illumination to him, a knowledge of some- 
thing above himself, and then it was followed by a 
darkness — a darkness that could be felt — and out of 
which he came with pain and difficulty. He came 
out of it at last, but he was not the same man. He 
was another Herbert Ravenscroft with another ideal. 
He’found another woman, who could give him sweet 
sympathy, and who knew all, and to her he offered 
what remained of his life and of his heart. He is 
pledged to her now, and very soon, when he leaves 
this quiet spot for the last time, he will for ever blot 
out all the past, and ask the future to give him what 
it can.^’ 

Gina still walked on by his side silently. She, too, 
felt that all the beauty of life was now gone. She 
had believed in Herbert’s return to her ; she had 
fancied they should meet again, and that her confes- 
sion would at once recall her lover. Herbert, the 
devoted slave of old days, was engaged to another 
woman ! He had not then waited long for her. His 
constancy had been of no great standing, and in the 
bitterness of her heart she said so. 

‘Hf I was inconstant and fickle, at least you soon 
followed my example ! ” 

No evil comes singly. That is the saddest part 
of it.” 

Then friendship alone remains,” she said, holding 
out her hand to him» He took it, and for a little time 
they walked on together. 


2I8 


claudea’s island. 


“ Yes, friendship, that is all,” and even as he said it, 
sternly and decidedly, the old passion for this pretty, 
frail, erring girl returned like the incoming tide, and 
surged up all the more because she was weak, as he 
had been, and because he had loved her so truly 
during that happy time when she had loved him with 
all her girlish enthusiasm. 

Some silent tears fell slowly down her cheeks and 
lost themselves in the folds of her blue dress. With- 
out looking towards her he saw them, and had he not 
been pledged, or had he been less high-minded than 
he was, he would then have stooped and kissed her 
tears away. As it was, he only walked on by her side 
silently and without a word. At last they came to 
the road leading to the mill, and both were glad to 
pause and to say good-bye. 

All the way home Gina’s tears came down softly, 
and every now and then she brushed them away, 
saying to herself, “ I thought this was going to be 
such a joyous day. I thought I was so very happy, 
and it has ended like this. Oh, Herbert, I deserve it 
all, I suppose ; but how could I know the other thing 
wasn’t real too ? How could I ? It is hard that 
when I do find it out, it must end like this.” 

Her pride was, however, able to assert itself before 
she reached the mill. She determined to say nothing 
about Herbert to her aunt; only to suggest leaving St. 
Castell as soon as possible. 

When Herbert parted from Gina, instead of going 
on into the village he took the road back again to the 


AN OLD FRIEND. 


219 


Forth. Claudea must come that way, and he must 
meet her. Visiting the nets was not a long affair. He 
walked very quickly, hoping by this rapid motion to 
conquer thought. He had seen Gina cry, and he had 
said nothing. All the rest was easy, for a first obstacle 
overcome makes the second danger easier. He had 
sought out Claudea ; he had taught her to love 
him ; on him rested all the responsibility, and he did 
not for a moment shrink from it or seek to excuse 
himself. 

As heneared the high ground he saw her lithe form 
drawn out against an apricot background. She was 
walking slower than usual, but still her tread was 
firm, her head erect. Every line was beautiful, but 
of a beauty which does not as easily appeal to an 
ordinary man as it does to the soul of an artist. He 
hastened towards her, and the .two met for the first 
minute in silence, but in that silence the first cold 
shadow was felt by both. 

Claudea, dear,” he said, taking her right hand and 
placing it gently on his arm, ‘‘did you know or 
guess ? ” 

“No, I never guessed that — that — it was your story,” 
she answered simply. “ Miss Ashton has been here 
some time. We have become great friends. She is 
very pretty, and she is a very sweet woman.” 

“ She was before — all that happened.” 

“Poor Herbert!” said Claudea, looking up at her 
lover. She called him by his name, and all her 
great shyness seemed gone, quite gone. He felt the 


220 


CLAUDEA’S ISLAND. 


difference, but could not explain it, except that he 
supposed she looked upon him now as her property, 
hers — and so he was. 

I have suffered. You know I told you every- 
thing, Claudea ; but now — no one can bring back the 
past.’' 

‘^Not the same, but another life comes back. One 
dreams, and then there is a waking.” 

There is nothing stable, nothing sure — but come, 
Claudea, let us talk of our future, dear. There is 
much to say. I meant our meeting to be so different. 
You are a noble woman, Claudea, far above other 
women.” 

Claudea shook her head, but also she smiled at his 
praise. 

“ Oh, Herbert ! I want you to think so. I want you 
to know I love you. You must do as I wish. No 
one knows about us. Don't tell anyone yet. I would 
net pain Miss Ashton for the world. Wait a little; she 
will be leaving soon. Let us still be free till then, 
and if — if — listen, Herbert ! suppose your old love 
should come back, suppose you felt it knocking at 
your heart, then come and tell me. There is no pledge 
between us. I would not have any yet, not yet. She 
not know.” 

But, Claudea, I have told her I am not free, that 
I am — ,” he paused, the very admission that he had 
thus spoken appeared terrible at this moment. To 
Claudea, too, it told the story plainly, but it also told 
her that Herbert was true and honest. 


AN OLD FRIEND. 


221 


** You told her you were bound — and — did you say 
to whom ? ” 

“ No, I mentioned no names.” 

I am glad, I am very glad ; she must not know it ; 
she must never know it. It would pain her, because 
she cares about me. She has a loving heart for every- 
thing. Let us be free, quite free.” 

She released her hand, and walked on by his side as 
she had done in the early times before love had 
knocked at the door of her heart. 

‘^If you wish her not to know I must obey you, 
Claudea ; but are you sure it is better so } ” 

“ Yes, yes, quite sure. Let it be so. You are free, 
quite free. There is time for many things in the 
future.” 

“ I cannot mention your name if you forbid it, 
Claudea; but remember I have told her. She cannot 
hope or expect anything. She was heartless, cruel in 
the past — why should /ler feelings be considered i ” 
She is my friend now, as well as yours. She is 
sorry, very sorry, for the past.” 

‘‘What can her sorrow do ? No, it would be best to 
be quite honest at once.” 

“ Don’t, please. You came for your answer, you 
know; if you ask it now, it shall be ^no’ rather than to 
give her pain.” 

“ It must be as you like,” he answered. 

“Yes; now leave me here.' I am going to the 
Cam cottage this evening. My sick child will want 
to see me.” 


222 


claudea’s island. 


‘‘ Good-bye then ; and, Claudea, give me your hand, 
and let me say it now as I shall always say it. God 
bless you, dear ! — you true, noble-hearted Claudea ! ” 
They stood side by side for a few moments ; then 
Claudea smiled and turned away. At first she 
walked very quickly towards the deep blue earn ; 
then, when she was out of sight of Herbert, she 
stopped short and sat down on a heather bank, hiding 
her face among the new green shoots of tender ling. 
All the heather bells trembled as they bent before her. 
A lark flew straight up into the evening sky, higher 
and higher till it was out of sight — so high up, indeed, 
that it could not hear the sob of a human soul upon 
earth, a noble, true-hearted, loving soul. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE FUTURE. 

Know this, 

Thou lov’st amiss, 

And to love true 

Thou must begin again and love anew.” 

VERY day Teilo, with the help of his 
crutches, crawled to the high land be- 
hind the farm on the island, and having 
found a sheltered spot with a great grey 
rock behind him, he sat down with his back to it and 
remained there gazing towards the mainland. Some- 
times he would sit for hours motionless, buried in his 
thoughts, and with his eyes fixed towards the distant 
porth from whence St. Castell people nearly alway 
started for the islands. This quiet retreat was doing 
him much bodily good ; his strength seemed to return 
steadily, and the. great stillness was balm to his 
bruised spirit. Silvester was busy all day, but he 
was a very kind host, leaving the sick man, when 
Mrs. Price had gone away, to the solitude he pre- 
ferred. Teilo began to imbibe something at last from 
this enforced stillness and this enforced communing 





2^4 claudeVs island. 

with nature. His proud spirit was learning to bow to 
a mightier than himself. At other times, however, 
all the old rebellion swept over him again. What 
had he done to be brought thus low ? Why had the 
hand of God visited him in this fashion when he had 
spent his strength in working for the cause of re- 
ligion ? God had forsaken him, and had gone far 
from him. But at such times Teilo heard a still, 
small voice speaking as still, small voices will speak 
occasionally to all God’s children. Had he always been 
true to the call ? Had he not often wrestled with his 
Maker in spirit, and demanded the praise of men 
as a reward for the service of God ? Had he not 
pretended that the call had come to him as to some 
prophet of the most Highest, and at the same time 
had he not expected the reward of love for his 
services ? He had said, ‘‘ Claudea must be my 
reward ; but when he reached this spot in the 
winding rpad of thought, Teilo bowed his head in 
utter dejection. God had visited him with the deep 
affliction of shame. He could no longer lift up his 
head, and he could no longer ask for anything as a 
right. Deep shame and deep penitence are not the 
same ; there is a sorrow that worketh death, and 
Teilo was drinking this sorrow, and asking God to 
take him out of the great world where it seemed to 
him impossible to walk injthe narrow path. 

During these moods the motionless figure with 
bowed head was a sight that made the farm hands 
walk away softly. They could not understand such 


THE FUTURE. 


22 $ 


dejection, and they passed by on the other side. 
Once or twice it happened that it was some bird or 
soft rabbit that intruded on his loneliness and broke 
the iron chain of most sorrowful thought. At such 
times Claudea’s words would return, and her deep 
love for God’s world and God’s dumb animals made 
him look up and try for himself whether from these 
creatures he could draw any consolation. Now and 
then the chirp of a yellowhammer or the clear note of 
a robin made him smile for a moment, and a smile 
has far more power than a frown. One day, too, as 
he sat there, he saw Claudea’s boat gliding past, and 
he watched it a long time going eastward. He could 
see the blue figure in the boat with Claudea, and he 
was with the two in mind all that day, till the after- 
noon came, when he followed the track of their home- 
going. It was not altogether a sight to add to his 
happiness, and yet he would not have missed it. He 
began to repent of the harsh words he had used to the 
woman he had loved so much and whom he loved 
still. He began to see something of his past selfish- 
ness, but this thought was very faint and not often 
entertained, for as yet the pain was too great. 

After this several days went by in utter loneliness, 
for Silve.ster went over to the mainland to help his 
father, and the stlent figure leaning’ against the rock 
had a still more unbroken time for meditation and 
dejection. The splendid autumn weather, too, began 
to break up. It turned stormy before its rightful 
time, and Teilo found he could not stay out so long. 
Q 


226 claudeVs island. 

Then the hours indoors were indeed dreary, for he 
could not keep his mind on printed words. The 
Bible would lie open before him for a long time, but 
he found no comfort in it, and he only lost himself in 
a wordless dream of despair. 

One afternoon the sun burst out again from a 
stormy sky, and he crawled out to his accustomed 
seat. Over there on the mainland Claudea was living 
her daily life. He had released her and she was free. 
What was she doing with her freedom } Would she — 
He cast the thought away angrily, and tried to find 
something less sad for his broodings, when suddenly his 
quick ears caught the sound of footsteps. In another 
moment Sezerina stood by him carrying a basket on 
her arm. He had been indoors when the boat had 
rounded the Whelps, and had not seen it arriving. 
Sezerina stood a moment by her brother without 
saying a word. She was shocked to see his gaunt 
appearance and the lines of brooding care on his pale 
face. He, too, was silent ; and he even looked away 
from her, as if the very sight of her were painful to 
him. 

Silvester's brought me over, Teilo,” she said at 
last, sitting down on a rock near at hand. “ Mother 
was so anxious I should come and bring you these 
things, which you’ll be wanting, and there’s a nice 
chicken for you. Are you better } ” 

‘‘Why didn’t you send them by Silvester without 
coming yourself.^” muttered Teilo. “What do you 
want to do here } ” 


THE FUTURE. 


227 


** I wanted to see you, Teilo.” 

I told you before I didn’t want to see you. I 
don’t want ever to set eyes on you again.” 

Sezerina’s once rosy face was pale. It was very 
evident she was much changed. She began crying 
softly, and the sound of tears only seemed still more 
to irritate her brother. 

‘‘What’s the use of crying over spilt milk ? You’ve 
got to bear your punishment, and you richly deserve 
it. Look at me ! Why am I maimed and crippled ? 
Don’t you remember what I was, and do you see 
what I am now ? Whose fault is it ? ” 

Sezerina did not answer. 

“There’s only silence, the grave if you like, that 
will make up to me — and to you, too, Sezerina. Do 
you see how the folly of one weak girl like you can 
bring ruin on all around her.^ You were warned, tco. 
Didn’t Claudea speak to you ” 

“ Claudea could never be cruel to me as you are, not 
even if she knew, never ! She’s the best friend I ever 
had ; if I had listened to her ” 

“ If, if, if! That’s a woman’s excuse. There should 
be no ‘if’ in your life. Claudea never had an ‘if’ in 
her life.” 

“ How do you know.*^ I’m not so sure. Of course 
Claudea would never do wrong ; but if she’d married 
you right away last year all this wouldn’t have hap- 
pened. She was caught by a gentleman’s manners 
that mean nothing.” 

“You speak about things you don’t understand. 


228 


claudea’s island. 


Claudea said ‘no’ and ‘no’ again before ever she 
was inclined to think about Mr. Ravenscroft.” 

“He’s come back to the ‘Mermaid.’” Sezerina 
said this quite shortly, but she watched out of the 
corner of her eyes what the effect would be on Teilo. 
She saw his poor thin face flush deeply, but he said 
nothing. 

“Yes, he’s come; but there’s something strange 
about it all. Do you know, Teilo, Miss Ashton is a 
friend of his. I saw his photograph in her room, and 
the other morning she had been crying over it. He 
and Claudea haven’t walked together anyhow, and 
she’s so still and quiet. I know her well. When 
Claudea’s still and doesn’t sing, then there’s something 
very much the matter.” 

Teilo had not lost a word of Sezerina’s speech, 
although he did not look at his sister, and pretended 
almost not to be listening. Strange to say, however, 
he found no pleasure in her words ; only a great rising 
anger against the man who might be playing fast and 
loose with Claudea’s love. Such love — such true, pure 
deep love — that he had almost sold his soul to pos- 
sess, and which she must have given freely to this 
stranger. 

“You shouldn’t go prying into Claudea’s affairs. 
You have enough to think of yourself. You will 
have the burden of the secret to carry all your life, 
Sezerina, if — and you have given it to me. How 
have you the heart to think of anything else ? ” 

“ I have cried till I’m afraid of mother’s asking too 


THE FUTURE. 


229 


much,” said Sezerina, crossing her arms and pouting 
a little. “You have a hard heart, Teilo. I don't 
know how you think you can go and preach a mes- 
sage of forgiveness to the fisher-folk, when you have 
such black thoughts about me. He's gone now. 
Can’t you forgive him as — as I try to do ? ” 

“You!” answered Teilo scornfully. “The least 
you can do is not to mention yourself at all. Tell 
mother I shall come home soon, in a week perhaps. 
I'm better in health, and I can walk better, but there’s 
so little flat land here. I shall get on better at home 
now the sea air has done what it can for me — the sea 
air and the quiet.” 

“You can't bear the sight of me,’' poor Sezerina 
continued; “you don't try to comfort me; it’s only 
yourself you think of. I wish I might tell Claudea. 
I want to feel her arms round me and to hear her 
kind words.” 

“ We've talked this over before, and I told you that 
the first time you mention it, Sezerina, that day I 
shall leave St. Castell. Now go — but stop. If you 
see Claudea, tell her I'm better. She'll be glad to hear 
it, I know.” 

The girl rose obediently. She appeared like a 
slave crushed by her master’s will, too much crushed 
to rebel. 

“ There's a storm coming,” she said, after she had 
stood a few minutes. “ Claudea always said if Thordis 
had red clouds on a line with her head the storrn 
would corne in twenty-four hours,” 


230 


claudea’s island. 


** I don't think so. It’s clearing for good. Any- 
how, you had better get home early. Tell mother I 
don’t want to see anyone, as I shall be coming back 
so soon. Silvester will bring me back. He is very 
good to me.” 

Sezerina said ‘‘very well,” but still stood a little 
longer, hoping for some kind word for herself. In 
this, however, she was disappointed, and turning 
away, she walked down to the shore, and was soon 
lost to sight, leaving Teilo sitting where she had 
found him, plunged more deeply than ever in a 
moody trance. 

It was not late when she reached home. The house 
door stood open, and there were the usual sounds of 
life about. Her mother met her in the parlour, 
anxious to hear about her son, and when Sezerina 
had given her report, Mrs. Price added : 

“Our visitors are going to leave in a week, my 
dear. They told me so just after you left. I thought 
Miss Ashton would soon find our place dull. She 
seems quite to mope now. To-day she was com- 
plaining that Claudea had npt been to see her for 
some days^ and she said she must see her ; so I said 
when you came home you’d tell her.” 

“There is Claudea coming! Mother, tell her 
about Teilo ; he wants her to know ; I must go up 
to my work.” 

Sezerina often avoided her friend now, though all 
the time longing to be with her ; but Teilo’s avenging 
shadow stood between them. A few minutes after 


THE FUTURE. 


231 


Claudea entered, and when she had heard Mrs. 
Price's better report of Teilo she went upstairs and 
knocked at Miss Ashton’s door. The little blue fairy 
was quite sad and silent, but she brightened up as 
Claudea entered. 

‘‘ Dear Claudea, I have been wanting you so much, 
but I did not like to send for you. Mrs. Price said 
there was an inroad of visitors, and that you were 
very busy. Now sit down. My aunt is packing some 
of her things. We are leaving in a few days, in spite 
of my having said I was going to spend my life here. 
You see life is very uncertain.” 

“Are you going I am sorry. I wanted you to 
stay till the birds came again. You would like to see 
them flocking back to my dear island, just landing 
there, and then, after a farewell to us, flying off to 
other lands. It is a sight you cannot forget.” 

“ Faithless things ! Why don’t they stay ? ” 

“That is the life God has ordained for them, isn’t 
it ? ‘ Thy will be done.’ I have said that so many 
times this week, and now it seems to be my own 
special prayer.” 

“ Why, Claudea, that sounds sad, and I wanted 
you to cheer me up. Are you sad too ? ” 

“ Oh, no. See, I am smiling. I am sorry you 
want comforting ; but I think I know why.” 

“Yes, you saw it all — our meeting! It is dreadful, 
Claudea. If he had only waited a little while longer. 
I am sure, yes — almost sure — he loves me still. I dare 
say he is engaged to a nice sensible middle-aged 


232 


claudea's island. 


woman, the pink of propriety, and he will never be 
happy. I really think I shouldn't mind much if I 
thought he would be very happy. I am not sure, but 
I think I shouldn’t mind ! I haven’t dared to go out for 
fear of meeting him. He has not gone yet, has he 

‘‘No, but he talks of going.” 

“ Now you have seen him, Claudea, you understand 
how I blame myself. He is so tender, so good, and 
he did really love me. I don’t blame him much ; at 
least, I don’t think I do. He never thought I should 
think differently, and come back to him. He thought 
I was going to marry that horrid musician. The 
French saying is true — On revient tonjours a ses 
premiers amonrs. Indeed, I have lived a time of 

martyrdom knowing him to be so near, and yet 

He is too honourable to do anything wrong towards 
that other woman. If I knew her I would tell her all 
about it. I wish you could find out ” 

“ If I can do anything for you I will.” 

“ I know you would, Claudea. You first pleaded 
for him ; you made me see how beautiful faithful- 
ness is. I shall tell him that if ever we meet 
again.” 

“ Oh, you will meet, I am sure. If he loves you best, 
his duty will be to say so. Besides, you are of the 
same mind, and you will help him in his work, and 
love him very much, won’t you ? You won’t forsake 
him again, will you ? ” 

“ There, Claudea, you are cruel ! If you knew how 
I repent. But I shall never have the chance of show- 


THE FUTURE. 


233 


ing it. I must go. I wish he would go away ; then I 
could stay. Why doesn’t he ? Why is he staying ? 
We have never met again, but sometimes — don’t tel 
anyone — I see him wandering along that cliff path 
which I can see from my room. He goes up and 
down, up and down there, and I can watch him with- 
out being seen, but I can’t bear that much longer.” 

Claudea smiled again. Her smile was like a gleam 
of sunshine coming quickly out of a grey sky over a 
grey sea. 

“ I am sure you will be happy. I can be almost 
sure from something I heard him say.” 

“ Oh, what was it ? ” said Gina, turning pale. 

“ That true love is never lost ; it has its reward, 
always, always.” 

‘‘That is just like him, but then what about that 
other one’s love ? ” and Gina shook her head. 

“You must believe in him. I shall try and say 
something to him. At least, I think I shall, and if I 
do not, when you see him tell him what I have told 
you, and how true I think it is that ‘True love is 
never lost.’ There is always some way to show one’s 
own self-sacrifice, and self-sacrifice brings its own 
reward. I think duty is a higher virtue than love ; 
and self-sacrifice better and higher than both. We 
don’t know what true love means — we don’t under- 
stand it. I read the other day something that com- 
forted me. ‘ You only love truly when you expect 
nothing back.’ ” 

“ Then I shall never love truly,” and Gina laughed, 


234 


claudea’s island. 




and for a moment all the grace and the beauty of the 
fairy were restored to her. 

Good-bye,” said Claudea, rising. ‘‘ I only came 
for a moment. To-morrow you will not see me, as I 
am going to the island. That will take all the after- 
noon, but I will come the day after and see if you are 
not happier. I am sure you will be. Good-bye. 
Will you kiss me ? ” v, 

Claudea stooped a little. She was taller, and so 
much more truly beautiful than Gina, but Gina was 
like a child that could be gathered up in one’s arms. 
She raised herself on tiptoe and kissed her friend. 

“Good-bye, dear Claudea. You are a perfect com- 
forter — quite perfect.” 






CHAPTER XIX. 

THE TASK SET. 

‘‘ My heart more blest than heart can tell, 

Blest, but for some dark undercurrent woe, 

That seems to draw — but it shall not be so : 

Let all be well, be well.” 

LAUDEA! Claudea ! You are never 
going this rough day, are you } It is too 
late to catch the tide,” said Mrs. Dewis, 
standing at the porch door of the ‘‘Mer- 
maid. “ When he went out an hour ago, Mr. 
Ravenscroft asked me when he could see you. 
There’s something he wanted to say.” 

“Tell him I’ll be back this evening, mother. I 
haven’t been to the island for so long ; I must go, 
you know. The longing has come ; and, besides, I 
promised Mrs. Price I’d go and cheer up poor Teilo. 
She says he sits and broods. He can’t get over being 
a cripple, and, indeed, it is a sore trial for him. He 
can’t look up.” 

“ Perhaps Silvester will be coming over, and you 
might go back with him and stay the night,” said 
Mrs. Dewis, thinking more of the weather than of 
Teilo. 




236 CLAUDEA^S ISLAND. 

‘‘ I shall have Dumb Davy, mother. It’s only fresh, 
and I shall like the toss. I shan’t be long.” She 
opened the gate and began walking away ; suddenly 
she stopped and came back to her mother : 

“ Mother, if — if I ask father for my wedding present 
soon, you’ll take my side, won’t you She just put 
her arms round her mother’s neck and kissed her, for 
they were alone at this moment. 

Bless me ! Is it that, Claudea ? but who is it ? 
Well, you always had your own way, and I doubt if 
father will stand out against your whims ; but there, 
make haste, child. Let Silvy come back with you if it’s 
inclined to storm. There’s a copper colour in the 
sky I don’t like.” 

Claudea ran down the road and down the hill into 
the churchyard, and crept into the old grey church 
for a minute. She felt at home here, and as she 
knelt down a minute to pray, a prayer without words, 
she reviewed the past week as one turns back the 
pages of a picture-book. She had met Herbert alone 
several times, and he had always been so kind, so full 
of thought for her ; but she knew that the shadow of 
the old love was there, and she knew, too, that he was 
too high-minded to tell her so. She had found many 
excuses, so as to make their meetings few and short ; 
but when she was with him, she was very still, and 
she could really smile even when he spoke of love. 
She did not want to trouble him with her sorrow ; she 
wanted him to be happy ; she loved him so truly that 
it did not occur to her to be sorry as much for herself 


THE TASK SET. 


^3; 

as for him. She had but one way, but one way to 
free him entirely, perfectly, and for always, only one 
way, and that she must take at once, before Miss 
Ashton went away, and before those two were again 
parted. She wanted to give them both this happi- 
ness — the man she loved and the friend who had 
been very kind to her ; neither of them were to blame 
now. She knew that from the first ; she and Herbert 
had made the mistake, both of them. He would 
have got tired of her, perhaps ; and yet, and yet — or if 
not that, he might have become tired of her island 
home, and might have wished to go back to the great 
busy world which he was accustomed to live in. In the 
first flush of her love she had fancied it would all be 
beautiful and right, that he would live with her in the 
dear island ; but now her eyes were opened, and she 
saw the plain, naked facts. Love had been like a deep 
well. It reflected her own bright image, and the 
trees, the sky, the passing birds, and all the beautiful 
things she loved ; but she now recognized that the 
water might be cold, and that the reflections might 
be disturbed and might disappear. Then she looked 
at another picture. She saw love and its beautiful 
vision put on one side for ever, and duty step into its 
place. She saw the picture of a man, a good, upright 
man, full of religious enthusiasm, laid low by the hand 
of God, and drinking the cup of bitter disappoint- 
ment. She saw herself giving up her life to him, and 
making up to him for his life of sorrow, joining with 
him in works of mercy, and becoming his helpmate. 


238 


CLAUDKAS ISLAND. 


It was a choice which few could have made, but 
Claudea had lived her life among the beautiful things 
of nature, and she had had eyes to see them and a 
heart to imbibe their teaching. In her simple way 
she had lived in close communion with things of 
heaven, and had been allowed to recognize the beauty 
of self-sacrifice. 

She rose from her knees in the old grey church, 
and gazed once more at the deep carvings in stone, 
and at all the things she had loved from childhood. 
That part of her life must go — she must bid farewell 
to it. She had asked God to let her live her life in 
the island, and He was going to grant her her wish, 
not in the way or in the manner she had expected, 
but in one which involved sacrifice. She clasped her 
hands very simply, and accepted the task. 

She must not linger any more ; it was already late, 
and she must find Dumb Davy. She opened the 
massive door and walked quickly across the little 
bridge over the chattering stream, and then with her 
firm, free step she hurried to Forth Caerog. Her 
mind was calm now ; she no longer struggled ; all her 
soul seemed bathed in light from the feeling that she 
would be able — she, humble Claudea, would be able 
to make two persons happy. She would give them 
this gift freely and from her heart, not grudgingly, 
but joyfully. 

She looked up at the sky, and wondered how long 
it would keep fine. There were copper-coloured 
clouds in the west, and the wind was fresh. Far 


THE TASK SET. 


239 


out to sea she noticed the white horses cantering 
tdwards the land ; she could see sudden gleams of 
autumn sunlight, succeeded by deep shadows that 
cast a gloom over the whole landscape, and then 
again gave place to sunlight. ‘‘If the wind keeps up 
in this quarter it will be all right,’' she thought, “ and 
it will take us in very quickly." She hastened on still 
more, and when she neared the cottage she shaded 
her eyes with her hand, looking about for Davy. He 
was nowhere visible ; and Claudea feared he was 
away, until suddenly he ran out of the cottage door 
to meet her. 

“ Davy, make haste ; I want to go over at once. It 
is rather late, and we shall only just have time," she 
signed to him. 

Davy shook his head and pointed to the copper- 
coloured clouds. 

“There’ll be a storm by-and-by," he implied. 

“ But see, the wind is in the right quarter ; we can 
get there and back before it changes ; besides the 
‘ Sea-gull ’ will weather that. You’re not afraid ? " 

Davy laughed and threw his cap up into the air 
with one hand as he ran down the cliff path to get 
out the boat. Claudea followed, and between them 
the “ Sea-gull " was soon balancing itself on the water 
as if she were literally a pinioned bird struggling 
to fly away. Claudea raised her hand, and Davy 
shoved off laughing for glee as the little craft crested 
the big waves and obeyed the imperious command of 
the swelling sail Claudea kept her watchful eyes on 


240 


claudea’s island. 


it, however ; for every now and then there came a 
strange lull in the wind, as if some sullen spirit were 
tired of obeying a standing order to blow, and were 
wilfully turning its back on its set task. The sail 
flapped listlessly and lugubriously against the mast till 
suddenly it was again filled, causing the ‘‘ Sea-gull” to 
fly onward. All this time there seemed to be a beau- 
tiful golden light in Claudea’s mental vision. She 
seemed lifted up above all earthly wishes into a region 
of exquisite calm. Earthly longings were lulled to 
sleep, and only a still small voice repeated, ‘‘ When 
thou passest through the waters I will be with thee.” 

They had neared the Whelps, and Davy asked which 
channel the Sea-gull ” should follow. There was 
always a danger of being driven on the sharp rocks if 
a sudden gust came on, but to-day Claudea forgot 
prudence in her keen enjoyment of movement. She 
signed to Davy to round the Whelps instead of 
keeping to leeward of them, and with the nicety of a 
bird on the wing the boat skimmed close by, leaving 
barely a few inches between her and destruction ; then, 
as if proud of her exploit, she gently backed into the 
little port, dropping her sail as if courting admiration 
and praise for what she had done. Davy jumped out 
and secured the boat, smiling at her cleverness and 
stroking her side as if she had been a living creature. 

“Wait here, Davy; I shall not be more than an 
hour, and then we must start at once. We shall have 
a difficulty to get through that cross current.” 

Again Davy laughed. He had no fears, though he 


THE TASK SET. 


241 


would not for the world have taken a stranger back 
to the mainland to-day. The copper-coloured clouds 
were spreading slowly, very slowly, and home-coming 
gulls were flying deliberately back to the island in a 
thoughtful manner, whilst the puffins ranged them- 
selves in rows on the rocky ledges. Close by, the 
stormy petrels were skimming the water, fighting and 
quarrelling and making their wild cat-like sounds as 
they pecked at each other. Now and then they let 
the waves float them on their crests, but more often 
they darted across the wavelets and dived through 
the swelling waters. 

With one parting smile at Dumb Davy, Claudea, 
instead of going at once to the farm, turned on her 
left hand, and climbing some rocks made her way 
across a green meadow to the foot of the hill where 
Thordis presided. Then plunging into the deep 
heather the girl struggled against the wind till once 
again she was at the foot of Thordis. She sat down 
and nestled close beside her, as she had done in her 
childhood, when life and happiness seemed boundless, 
and when every heather twig and every grey stone 
spoke of joy in some form or other to her happy 
mind. 

“ Thordis, Thordis,” she said, speaking softly aloud 
from long habit, “you will not think me wrong. He 
i^ so good, so kind ; he does not know what will be for 
his true happiness, but I do. I should be only a 
difficulty to him, and she — that fairy you saw, Thordis 
— she wants this sort of happiness to teach her other 
R 


242 


claudea's island. 


joys. She wants to be led upwards through a path 
bordered by flowers. They must be very happy 
together, and they will love me always ; whilst 
perhaps, if I took that gift, it would fade like a spring 
flower in my hand, and I should grieve. Oh, Thordis, 
I want to give and give, and you will always stay here, 
and you will know I thought a long, long time, and at 
last decided this was the only way. I am not crying, 
Thordis, I am glad ; and all my mind seems clear and 
bright, and I do it willingly and joyfully. I don’t 
want anyone to be sorry for me. It is better to give 
than to receive, and all my life I have received so 
much. All this beautiful place, and all my birds, and 
the dear creatures here, they have all given to me, to 
me, Thordis, and now I shall do as they have done, 
and give to others what will make those two happy. 
You understand, don’t you, Thordis ? You will say I 
am right — you with your dear face full of courage and 
steadfastness. I will be firm and courageous too, 
Thordis. You will always help me, and — yes, I see 
you are pleased.” 

Claudea rose to her feet and reached her arms up 
to put them round the neck of Thordis, and she laid 
her cheek against the old figure-head, finding the 
comfort she had always found, and smiling even as a 
few tears fell slowly on the great calm bosom of 
Thordis. There was another sudden lull, and the still- 
ness seemed strangely comforting to the lonely girl, 
like the stillness of victory after struggle, or like the 
waking up in a new land of joy. 


THE TASK SET. 


243 


At last she remembered she had but very little time 
in which to accomplish her mission. With one more 
kiss, warm and passionate, as is the kiss of a little child 
on the cheek of its favourite doll, Claudea stepped 
down. She was so free here to do what she liked. 
No human being was in sight ; there were only the cir- 
cling gulls uttering their weird cries and the startled 
rabbits scampering away from their burrows. A little 
yellowhammer hopped in front of her, and a robin 
fluttered into a fresh-water pool in the rocks close 
beside her. Claudea was at peace now with all the 
world, and she could understand these winged messages 
from heaven. 

Without again stopping she ran on down the hill, 
plunging nearly waist-deep in heather, till she reached 
the bottom of the hill, and took the field-path to the 
farm. Where was Teilo.^ Would he be sitting on 
the old rock looking towards the mainland ? or would 
he have found it too cold and blustering ? She could 
not see him, approaching from this side, for the farm 
was in a hollow and was not visible till one was 
close by. The cows were grazing in this meadow 
and lifted their heads as she passed. A cart-horse 
came up to her to receive a pat on his old mane, now 
turning grey. Then she tore herself away from all 
these old favourites, and ran down some steep steps into 
the farm garden. The autumn flowers were blowing 
luxuriantly. The Michaelmas daisies were bending 
with the weight of their mauve heads, and three tall 
sunflowers stared open-eyed at her as she brushed 


H4 


CLAUDELS ISLAND. 


against their giant leaves. The door as usual was 
open, and the deceptive gleam darted in to settle 
upon the old woodwork and to caress the red tiles of 
the floor. 

“Betty! Betty!'' called out Claudea ; “is Mr. 
Teilo indoors ? " 

Betty came running out. 

“ Lor-a-mercy, Miss Claudea! how did you come 
I never heard you up the steps." 

“ I have been up the hill. There is not much time 
to spare. Where is Silvester ? " 

“ Master Silvy’s gone over in his boat this afternoon 
to the lighthouse. The men there sent for potatoes. 
They say there is rough weather coming. You had 
best go home soon, Miss Claudea, or sleep here. Mr. 
Teilo is out in his old place ; leastways I think so, but 
I was washing in the back kitchen and didn't notice. 
He was indoors all morning studying his Bible. I 
think if he read the Bible less and smiled a bit more 
he would please the Almighty a deal better. But 
there ! them Methodies don’t go to heaven the same 
ways as we do." 

“ There is more than one road to heaven, Betty, I 
expect, or many of us would be left out. There, I’m 
going to pick some of these big daisies for Blackstar’s 
grave. She was always fond of eating them when one 
wasn’t watching her." 

“ You do look bonny to-day, my dear. When 
shall we hear of picking flowers to strew on your 
wedding-path .?" 


tttE tASk SET. ^4$ 

“ When ? — when ? Well, soon, I expect, and you 
will have to make the old farm very smart.” 

** Bless the child ! but don't you linger long, Miss 
Claudea ; if you want to see Mr. Teilo, you'd best go 
at once.'' 

Claudea picked a nosegay, and went round by 
Blackstar’s grave before she rounded the building and 
climbed up to the rocky path which looked seaward. 
She seemed to wish to put off seeing Teilo as long as 
possible, but at last she knew she had only just time 
to say what she had come to say ; so very slowly she 
climbed the path. 

‘‘ I am quite happy,” she said to herself. I will 
not give my gift grudgingly, and I shall see the smile 
on Teilo’s poor sad face.” 

She turned the corner and saw him sitting in his old 
accustomed place, with his head bowed upon his hands, 
and his eyes looking sadly landward. He might have 
sat as a model to Michael Angelo for some mighty 
figure of despair, and the utter simplicity of the pose 
would have added strength to the pathos of it. 
Claudea's heart sank low as she beheld him ; then 
suddenly rebounded, and all her own sorrows fled 
from her mind. God had sent her on this mission, 
and she said in her heart that she was ready to 
accept it. 

“Teilo!” she called softly; and he lifted his head 
and saw her standing there before him in all her 
radiant beauty. 

For a moment he gazed at her without speaking ; 


claudea's island. 


246 

then the very sight of her seemed to bring back a pale 
shade of colour to his cheeks, and he reached his 
hand out to find his crutches. 

“Don’t get up, dear Teilo. I have come to see 
you. I have not very long to stay. The sky looks 
rather as if we should have some squalls presently ; so 
I must hurry back, but will you let me sit near you 
and tell you something ? ” 

Teilo knew what it was. She had come to tell him 
of her marriage. As well hear it at once and put 
himself out of his pain. 

“ Yes,” he said, “ I know, I know ; but let me hear 
it ; ” and he motioned her to sit down beside him. 






CHAPTER XX. 

UNWORTHY. 

“ Love that can shape or can shatter a life till the life shall have 
fled? 

Nay, let us welcome him, Love that can lift up a life from the 
dead. 

Keep him away from the lone little isle. Let us be, let us be. 
Nay, let him make it his own, let him reign in it — he, it is he, 
Love that is born of the deep coming up with the sun from the 
sea.” 

O you remember, Teilo, that a little while 
ago you said you would not wait for my 
answer till Christmas Eve, but that you 
gave me my freedom } I know what you 

thought — but Claudea paused. There came a 

sudden gust of wind which blew her curly hair hither 
and thither, so that she stooped a little to find shelter 
behind the great grey rock. 

'‘You know ? asked Teilo, gazing at her with his 
sunken eyes as if he were trying to gather his ideas 
together. 

“ Y^s ; I know something of it. You and Morgan 
had a quarrel out there on the cliff. Do you 
remember that first quarrel, and oh ! it was about 
me. I have often felt sad about it, but indeed— ” 



248 


claudea’s island. 


“ It was not that — not that/* he said, shaking his 
head. ‘‘ You know nothing about it, Claudea.” 

But do you know that when I found you, dear 
Teilo, there was no one at hand — no one to help us; 
so I sent Dumb Davy to fetch the Norris lads, and I 
stayed with you.** 

“ Did you do that } ** he asked, looking down 
gloomily ; “ I wish you had left me alone.*’ 

‘ Yes, I did that. I stayed by you, and I put your 
head on my knee, and my heart was very, very sore 
for you. Then the tide came up nearer and nearer to 
us, and I watched it, fancying it would reach us ; and 
when at last it came quite near to you I tried to drag 
you away a little, but I could only move you a few 
inches, and when I had done that I saw Morgan’s 
cap lying under you.” 

Teilo stretched out his hand as if to put away a 
terrible picture from his mental vision. 

“ You saw it — you saw it ? — what did you do ? ** 

I got up, and taking it with me I buried it deep 
down between some rocks, and I placed some stones 
on it ; and now only the sea can give up that secret. 
Tell me, Teilo, did I do right, or has Morgan injured 
you too deeply for forgiveness ? Don’t you know that 
seventy times seven is the number that Christ gives us 

“ Thank you, Claudea ; you did right. But memory 
cannot as easily be hidden away underground. Nay, 
it is always spreading itself out like a map at one’s 
feet. The living picture glows like coals of fire. Give 
me your hand.” 


UNWORTHY. 249 

She held out her small brown hand and placed it in 
his, which was burning hot. 

“ Poor Teilo ! she said softly. 

‘‘Do you know that I was the murderer.^ When 
Morgan spoke to me then, that old madness rose again, 
and I thought that such a man was unworthy to live ; 
so I seized him, arid then and there we struggled 
together — I did not care if I killed him. I saw him 
go step by step, back and back closer to the cliff, and 
then all at once I knew that he was the stronger man, 
and I felt myself hurled into space. Do you know, 
Claudea, even at that moment I seemed to be listen- 
ing to one of my own sermons on Hell, and I seemed 
to feel that I was going there myself, down — down- 
deep down.'' 

“ Don't speak like that, dear Teilo." 

“ I have been there ever since. When I woke up I 
was there. When you came to see me I was there. I 
shall always be there now till I die, and then " 

“ Don’t — don't say all this, please don’t. You are 
ill. Even if it was so then, I am sure it is not so 
now. In this dear place — in my island — haven’t you 
heard the Christ speaking here — haven’t you, Teilo ? 
‘ Come unto Me,' He says." 

“ No, I haven’t heard it. Those words are not for 
me. All my life has been a sham ; I have preached 
to others, and I am now a castaway. I can't find any 
love or any pity in my heart. I can't be glad for 
your joy even, the joy that shines in your face, 
Claudea.” 


2S0 


claudea's island. 


“ Tell me more — tell me what Morgan said to you. 
You know he went away at once. He did not stop 
to see if he had killed you. You need not think you 
were his murderer, when you so nearly died.'* 

Morgan was going anyhow — and this I will tell 
you, Claudea, he was going to lure Sezerina away 
from her home. She had promised to go with him, 
but I found it out. Do you think that that was not 
enough to raise the devil in me ? 

‘‘ I was afraid of that. Poor Rina ! but she must be 
sorry now for her foolish thought. She looks sad ; 
indeed you must forgive her — you must.’' 

Teilo raised his head and looked searchingly at the 
beautiful face before him. It appeared to him as if 
Claudea could only reflect Heaven. There was a 
new expression on her countenance — a new love 
shining from her eyes. It was, of course, he thought, 
because of this new love in her life. 

“ There is some forgiveness which you cannot bring 
yourself to give. Sezerina must suffer like others. 
She must suffer as I do.” 

‘‘ You don’t understand suffering if you want 
others to share it. Oh, Teilo ! I want those I love to 
be happy. I want to give them what my pain has 
gained for them if that will help them ; I have learnt 
that lesson now, but one can only learn it through 
suffering, only through suffering.” 

“ Why do jyc?u talk of suffering ? ” 

Because we all have to learn it some time or 
other ; you know that. But I came here to ask you 


UNWORTHY. 


251 


something. I must not stay very long, as Dumb 
Davy is waiting for me, and I think the storm is 
coming up.” 

“ You want me to wish you joy ? ” he said slowly. 

' “Yes ; you cannot wish me anything else.” 

“ I think not, I think not.” Her gentle words fell 
like dew on parched land ; the hard crust was gradually 
giving way under this sweet sunshine. 

“ I want you to let me stay and comfort you, Teilo, 
on this island — my island, you know. Once you 
thought that you could not stay here ; you thought that 
you heard God calling you to go further away, but 
now, now, Teilo, you will find there is much one can 
learn here. You can learn to love all God's creatures 
first, and then, and then ” 

“ What do you mean ? ” said the sick man, his voice 
trembling a little. “ I don’t want anyone’s comfort, 
not even yours.” 

“Oh, yes, you do. You want mine, Teilo. In the 
old days you were not sure if you wanted it, but now 
I must make up for all you have lost. I am come 
here to tell you that ; don’t you believe it, don’byou 
understand.?” 

She knelt down by him, and took his thin burning 
hand in hers with the action of a mother who wishes 
to protect her child. 

“ I can walk for you ; I can go on your errands to 
the poor people ; you know how strong I am. You 
shall be the head, I shall be the limbs that obey, and 
the poor will bless your name as they have done 


252 


claudea’s island. 


many times before. Teilo, the call has come now to 
you and to me — to us both together. Let us follow, 
yes, together. I have done so to-day, and I have 
come to you, dear Teilo.** 

You have come back to me. No, no.*’ He loosed 
her hand, and half motioned her away. He would 
have risen and gone from her if he could have done 
so easily, but his crutches were not close beside him, 
and he hated to show her how helpless he was. 

“Don’t go away, don’t leave me, Teilo. I have 
come back to the island, and I mean to live here all 
the rest of my life. Don’t despise my help.” 

“Your help! Yours, Claudea Oh, no, not now, 
not now. You love another — and now I am a poor 
helpless cripple, not fit for such as you. No, no, go 
away, Claudea ; leave me.” 

“ Don’t you love me any more, Teilo > ” 

“ Love you ? I have prayed to hate you, but I 
can’t help it, I love you still, only now — now — darling, 
look what I am ! No, no, that other one must have 
you. Leave me.” 

“ But I told you God’s call has come to you and /to 
me. If you love me still, Teilo, I will be your faithful 
wife till death parts us — I will be your helpmeet, and 
we shall live here, here always.” 

A low howl of the wind carried her words to Teilo, 
and beyond him to where Thordis stood fronting the 
sea, and to where the great precipitous rocks dipped 
their feet into the waters and raised their heads to 
heaven. Qn the horizon the copper-coloured clouds 


UNWORTHY. 


253 


stretched out lurid red arms into the grey heaven, and 
sent their windy messenger to precede them. Even 
the great rock seemed barely to shelter these two from 
this sudden blast, which, however, passed away as 
quickly as it came. Teilo bowed his head, and after 
the blast he seemed to hear the still small voice of 
God's infinite mercy and forgiveness, but the voice 
was the voice of Claudea. He held out his hand 
again, much as a child might do, a child who has 
found a guide to lead it out of a dark wood. 

She took it between both of hers, and for a few minutes 
they remained thus in silence. There was nothing 
passionate in the action ; there could be none on her 
side, and for him passion seemed to have been all 
burnt out in a fierce furnace. A great peace fell upon 
them, and it seemed to reproduce the sudden calm of 
nature, of that peace which succeeded storm — a peace 
which some weary hearts think rivals passionate joy. 
All at once another blast of wind came out of the 
copper sky. It could almost be seen approaching, 
whilst the sullen roar was heard as it swept on 
towards the island. 

Claudea and Teilo drew closer to the sheltering 
rock, and listened in silence as the wind-storm swept 
over them. When it had gone by, she rose quickly. 

‘‘Teilo," she said, “the wind is too strong for you 
to remain here ; come in doors. Let me help you." 
She stooped to pick up his crutches and assisted him 
to rise. All her womanly pity came to help her great 
sacrifice she noticed how slowly the once strong. 


254 


claudea's island. 


handsome man dragged himself up, and with what 
difficulty he moved along the uneven ground. 

It took them several minutes to reach the farm 
door, and here she paused. 

Good-bye, Teilo ; I must hurry home now. Dumb 
Davy is waiting for me, and mother will be expecting 
me home. If you will let me, I shall tell her and 
father this evening, and I shall ask him for — my 
island — our island in future, Teilo.” 

Teilo sank down on the seat inside the porch, 
weary with even this exertion, and once again he 
looked at Claudea standing beside him in all her 
perfect beauty. Was it true that she was his, giving 
herself to him freely, and of her own accord — to him ? 
The wish of his heart was answered, and yet, instead 
of a great feeling of joy and pride, he felt humbled 
before God. He asked himself now, for the first time 
in his life, was he worthy of this priceless gift } He, 
Teilo Price, who had been a murderer in his heart, 
who had encouraged the feeling of hatred till it had 
overmastered him. He, who had called himself a 
preacher to lost souls, who had believed in his own 
mission and in a call from God, but who was himself 
worse than the least worthy of his flock, was he 
worthy of her ? 

Good-bye, dear, dear Claudea,” he answered, and 
she heard a long weary sigh. “ Good-bye. You must 
tell me what to do in the future. As for myself, I am 
not worthy of such devotion — but God gives us more 
than we deserve. Claudea, stoop down, my dearest 


UNWORTHY. 


2S5 


Let me tell you again how unworthy I am. You 
have put a new heart in me ; God has not forsaken me 
entirely if He gives you to me, I will arise and go 
to my Father 

At this moment there was heard a loosening of 
pebbles and the sound of hurried footsteps. Claudea, 
who had knelt down beside the sick man, rose slowly. 
She was not ashamed of her action. The golden 
light of self-renunciation still surrounded her, and her 
great pity for Teilo had made the sacrifice possible. 
It was, however, only Dumb Davy, whose head ap- 
peared suddenly from the steps below, and who with 
a strange, weird gesture ran up to his mistress. 

‘‘Are you coming. Miss Claudea ? You must make 
haste. Look yonder ? His long, thin arms were 
stretched seaward towards the lurid sky, and his large 
eyes expressed anxiety. Claudea quickly motioned 
him to be quiet. Teilo must not be aware of the 
boy’s fears. She herself had none, but she knew 
she must get back to her mother and father, in order 
to get their consent to her marriage with Teilo. 
They must give it. Her father had never refused her 
anything, never. She knew he would not welcome 
this poor cripple ; he would say he was no fit hus- 
band for his Claudea ; but she, Claudea, must make 
him see the necessity ; she must make him share 
the joy of her self-sacrifice without letting him know 
that it was one, and how would he be able to resist 
his Claudea’s entreaties when her arms were round his 
neck ? He could not. But above all, she must let 


Claudea^s island. 


^56 

Herbert know that everything but true friendship was 
over between them, and she must make him promise 
to see his old love and to give her hope for the future, 
the near future. The task was difficult, very difficult ; 
but she would do it. She must not let Herbert 
grieve about it. She would tell him the old promise 
had drawn her back to Teilo, now that he wanted 
help. Everyone could see that Teilo, the cripple, 
wanted her far more than the Teilo who had a call to 
save souls. Besides, now she was strong for this last 
battle ; for she was bound to Teilo for ever, bound by 
this short half-hour's words, and by all the strength 
of the spirit of duty. There was nothing more to say. 
She knew that by this one act of hers Herbert was 
free, free for ever, and free from all regret or shame. 
He should never know all — never. 

Dear Teilo," she said softly, even though Dumb 
Davy could not hear, “good-bye now. I am going 
home — but I like to know that it is my island that 
has done you good, and my island that has taught 
you that God is Love." 

He would have kissed her hand if Dumb Davy had 
not been standing there close by. As it was he 
pressed it with all the power that his poor, thin 
fingers still retained, and for the first time since the 
night of that terrible accident he smiled, and with 
that smile Teilo’s good angel returned. 

It seemed suddenly as if the sunshine were gone 
when the next instant Claudea disappeared. Where 
was it.'^ Surely just now it had played upon the old 


UNWORTHY. 


257 


woodwork and on the red fla^s. Had Claudea taken 
it all away with her ? He looked up and noticed that 
the sky above was overcast with dull clouds edged 
with lurid light, and that occasionally, and at 
shorter intervals, came the same blasts of strange 
wind, the same that had passed over himself and 
Claudea. He felt cold and shivered a little ; then 
he took up his crutches, and standing up he opened 
the door and entered the parlour, darkened by its 
low thick beams and its old-fashioned windows. 
But now everything looked different — everything was 
tinged with golden colours. This was to be their 
home ; here he should see that sweet presence, and 
he should hear the music of her voice about the 
house, and all the animate and inanimate things in 
Claudea’s island would say “ God is Love.’' 

“Mr. Teilo,” said Betty, hurrying in. “You are 
indoors ; I am glad. But where is Miss Claudea } 
She is here still, isn’t she ? ” 

“ No, Betty, she’s gone home ! ” 

“ Good Lord ! and there’s a fearful storm upon us ! ” 
“ Oh, Betty, there’s no danger for Miss Claudea ; 
none whatever,” he said quickly. 

“ Miss Claudea is as sure as most people, that’s 
true ; but, good Lord ! look at those heavy drops. It’s 
the strangest sky that ever I saw. It’s not a natural 
storm. But there, she’s got Dumb Davy, and he’s 
worth two men any day, if there’s danger. He’s no fears.” 

“No more has Claudea, but I think I’ll go out and 
watch the boat a little while, Betty.” 

S 


258 


claudea's island. 


No, Mr. Teilo, don’t you go. You being so 
crippled like, you’d find it a hard job to get home 
quickly, if so be the storm burst upon you.” 

An hour ago Teilo would have resented this 
reminder of his helpless condition, now he only 
smiled. 

Betty, when Christ was on earth He healed the 
blind and made the lame man to walk.” 

*‘Yes, Mr. Teilo, and it’s a sore pity you hadn’t 
’a lived in those times. There’s none to do it now, 
that’s sure and certain.” 

“ You’re wrong, Betty, quite wrong. Christ has 
been here, and He has opened the eyes of the blind, 
and made the lame man to walk.” 

Betty gave a quick glance at the crutches, and at 
Teilo’s shortened leg. Then she shook her head ; 
she could see no miracle performed in that direction, 
and the only comfort she could find was this : 

“ Leastways you’re not so blind as I am, Mr. 
Teilo, for I’m a getting worse every day. But, Lord, 
what’s up now ! ” 

There was a sound of footsteps and of two excited 
voices, as a man burst open the door, calling out to 
Betty, “ Come, come along with us — Make haste!* 



AT HOME. 

“For sullen-seeming Death may give 
More life to Love than is or ever was 
In our low world, where yet ’tis sweet to live.*' 

UMB DAVY ran on quickly in front of 
his mistress to where the “ Sea-gull,” 
chained to shore, was tugging at its bonds 
as if anxious to fly home. The green 
boiled into white foam close to the rocks a 
little way from shore, was upheaved by a ground 
swell, but appeared unable to form itself into waves 
except at irregular intervals. The copper sky had 
spread high above the horizon, and looked down 
angrily upon the sea. 

As the two entered the boat there was a dead 
silence in the air, a deadness over everything but the 
near breakers. Davy looked up with a puzzled ex- 
pression in his eyes for nothing seemed as usual, then 
he hastily unfastened the chain and seized the oars. 

“ Let us get clear of the Whelps, Davy, and then 
we will try and put up the sail. If the wind rises a 
little we can run on quickly. How is the tide ? ” said 
Claudea. 

“We shall have a bad time in the current,” signed 



water that 



26 o 


claudea’s island. 


Davy, nodding in the direction of the channel, and 
giving a long stroke of the oar. His mistress did the 
same, for once off from shore they seemed surrounded 
by a great upheaving of unformed waves and a stifling 
atmosphere. They had gone outside the rocks for 
fear of one of the sudden gusts lately experienced, 
which gusts,' being an uncertain quantity, could not 
very accurately be prepared for. The two knew all 
these uncertainties too well to run the danger of 
taking the shorter cut from within the rocky bay, 
so they bravely pulled out in order to head the 
treacherous rocky teeth of the Whelps. Still the 
calm continued, and the sky grew darker and more 
sullen-looking. The strange oppression increased, and 
the gulls sank slowly towards the water, as if beaten 
down by some invisible weight in the air above them. 
A few razor-bills flew swiftly past the boat, hastening 
landwards, their red bills making a thin line of ‘colour 
above the grey-green waves. A long floating mass of 
seaweed, like a wriggling serpent, floated past the 
“ Sea-gull/’ for a moment entangling itself in the 
keel, then swept on by the force of the swell. 
Still the two rowed bravely on, till, having nearly 
rounded the Whelps, they entered the strong swift 
current which had always to be faced in this passage 
to and from the mainland. 

“ Shall I put up the sail ? * signed Davy, resting on 
his oar. 

‘‘ There is no wind, Davy. Of what use will be the 
sail ? We must fight bravely on.” 


AT HOME. 


261 

**But it is coming/' Davy implied by stooping his 
head and by stretching out his hand, as if he felt the 
far-off sound. 

All at once Claudea looked forth and beheld a 
strange and awful sight — a sight which she had never 
seen before, and which so fascinated her that she was 
struck dumb for a few seconds. The copper-coloured 
cloud seemed suddenly to gather itself into a focus, as 
if four unseen winds propelled it to a centre. Then 
out of the dark mass suddenly there shot forth a 
black tongue, darting towards the sea like a serpent 
attacking its prey. The water beneath appeared to 
repeat the action with a similar, but upward motion, 
and thus to link itself with its strange adversary. 
Then followed a long low howl of wind from behind 
this awful column, a blast which swept it onward 
with relentless power. Claudea had then only time 
to shout to Davy, forgetting he could not hear : 

Davy, Davy, cling to the boat ! Leave the oars. 
It is coming. Oh, God ! " 

But Dumb Davy had also seen it. He dropped 
the oars, and with a face distorted with horror he 
flung himself at Claudea’s feet and clung to her skirts. 
At that moment, when the awful destroying monster 
was close upon them, suddenly Claudea felt lifted out 
of all the momentary fear which had almost paralyzed 
her. It was like a flash from God’s glory, like a 
grasp from His hand, and a whisper from His still 
small voice, which can be heard above all storms 
Be not afraid. It is I.” 


262 


CLAUDEA^S ISLAND. 


That bright vision was all she remembered of the 
shock, whilst the little boat was swept a few yards 
against the current, crushed as if it had been made of 
feeble twigs, and then ruthlessly flung upon the edged 
teeth of the Whelps, round which the waves after a 
few seconds boiled and hissed as if they were a bed of 
venomous snakes, or as if some pent-up springs were 
just then released from an underground cavern. 

Then there was a great calm, whilst the monster 
was swept on by the wind to dissolve suddenly east- 
ward of the many islands. 

It might have been five minutes more or less — 
time was not counted — when Claudea woke again to 
consciousness. She was lying on the slope of a ledge 
of the cruel reef. Right away on the left there was a 
clear space of blue sky and crossing it a long ray of 
the sun stretched toward the zenith. 

The first moment she saw this peaceful sight 
Claudea smiled, and the words came back again to 
her ears, as if someone close beside repeated them : 
“ Be not afraid. It is I/' 

Was it over.^ She had not been afraid at alL 
Then she thought of Davy. 

“Davy, Davy ! ” she called, and tried to rise. Her 
left arm was powerless ; but she felt no pain. One 
foot, too, was numb and heavy. She must have 
been bruised, but it was Davy who mattered. Where 
was the dear lad ? 

“ Davy ! '' Then looking all around she saw a still 
form on a lower ledge beneath her. The water was 


AT HOME. 263 

splashing over part of it, and must in a few minutes 
wash him away from his insecure resting-place. 

Davy, Davy ! she called earnestly, though he 
could not hear her. She must reach him — she must. 

With great difficulty and regardless of pain, so that 
she felt but little of it, she dragged herself down, 
using all the strength that remained to her. Her 
right hand and arm still retained their old power, and 
when she had literally crawled down over the slippery 
rocks, she smiled to see she could almost touch him. 
She had now, however, reached the dangerous slippery 
ledge, so she must act very cautiously. 

Now she could take hold of his shoulder. 

She shook him as much as she could, and a sudden 
joy entered her heart when he moved. Again she 
tried to rouse him, and then he opened his eyes, but 
he looked at her without seeming to recognize her. 

She made signs to him, and a dim look as one who 
wakes after a long sleep passed over his features. 

‘'Get up,” she signed to him. “Get up higher, Davy.” 

He seemed to try to obey her, evidently from mere 
force of habit, without however appearing to know 
who it was who commanded him to rise. He 
stretched out his long thin arm, and struggled to 
catch at something higher than himself. Just then a 
swelling wave lapped itself over him, and he appeared 
to wake up still further. The rock he clutched was 
slippery with black, clinging seaweed, and the water 
was sucking him back. He flung his other hand 
towards Claudea ; he could not quite reach her, as she 


264 


claudea's island. 


had prudently crept back a little higher, but seeing 
him slipping — slipping down again — she made a great 
effort, and stooping down as far as possible, she held 
out to him a saving hand. With a dull cry of delight 
the lad clutched her with the clutch of a drowning 
person, and by so doing he hoisted himself up a few 
inches higher ; then, suddenly loosening her hand, 
grasped another point of rock, and was saved. But 
for her the impetus downward had been too powerful. 
Claudea felt herself slipping off the insecure ledge 
into the cold water. Had her left arm been of any use, 
she could easily have saved herself. For one moment 
her right hand seized a shining surface, but her own 
weight was too great ; for just then a swelling wave 
appeared to leap up towards her and to lift her bodily 
down, and almost gently to set her floating upon the 
bosom of the great ocean. She tried to strike out 
with one hand and found it impossible ; then she 
resigned herself to the cradling sea, and as she 
floated away she saw that Dumb Davy had crawled 
still higher up, quite out of the reach of the next 
waves. She had saved him — poor, faithful, brave- 
hearted Davy — but would help come for her } 
Would she be washed back upon the Whelps ? She 
wanted to live. The golden haze was still around 
her. She wanted to see Herbert and his bride happy 
with the happiness she had given them, her gift 
Then suddenly she felt herself heaved into the strong 
current, and it was running in towards land. The hour 
had come, and she was buffeted by the cruel waves, and 


AT HOME. 


265 


sent back and back towards her island. Her strength 
was gone — she sank, and when she rose again it was • 
to hear a distant sound from the shore — then to see 
another golden haze — then . . • . peace and oblivion. 

* # * * * 

Dumb Davy only returned to full consciousness 
when he felt himself once more upon the sea. He 
saw that he was itt- a boat, and he was going to the 
island without rounding the Whelps. Two men were 
pulling him in, which strange fact served to bring him 
fully to himself. Then he noticed that at the end of 
the boat his mistress was lying flat down with closed 
eyes and one hand lying on her bosom. Her hair 
was uncoiled and spread itself out all about her 
beautiful head. He tried to start up in order to wake 
her, but then one of the men held him down. He 
felt sore and bruised still — but the pain was nothing to 
the cold numb feeling in his brain when he looked at 

Claudea. Was she asleep ? Or — or Then he 

tried to recollect what had happened, and the effort 
resulted in a strange blank of memory. 

Two minutes more, and the boat ran in between 
the rocks, right up to the little sandy shore where 
Claudea used to pick up tiny shells when she was a small 
child. Betty was standing there wringing her hands, 
in the midst of a few men from the farm, and foremost 
of all stood Teilo leaning on his crutches. He was 
mute with the anguish of uncertainty, whilst Betty’s 
tongue and her tears ran on from the same reason. 
She spoke first, as the keel grated on the shore : 


266 


claudea’s island. 


Now, Dan, quick ! make haste ! tell us if she’s 
fainted. The lad’s safe enough, I see. My poor 
child — my poor nursling — she’s only fainted. Now 
you others lift Dumb Davy out. He’s not able to 
move. Good Lord ! and you saw it ? You saw her 
save him ” 

The ^ Sea-gull ’ was broken up like matchwood. 
It’s the Whelps as saved the bodies. Ay, we saw 
her rescue him ; but it was all so quick, though we 
went as fast as possible.” 

“ Don’t waste words — quick ! take her up ! let 
everything be done — she’s only fainted. Run on, and 
clear the way — lift her gently.” Thus spoke Teilo, 
who, forgetting his own infirmities, directed every- 
thing that was to be done, as for one moment he 
seized the small brown hand that hung heavily down 
by her side. 

Claudea had come back to her island home, and 
there the men who had always known her and loved 
her lifted her up gently, and as full of awe as if she 
had been a princess born. 

They laid her on the great four-poster bed in the 
farm, whilst Dumb Davy crouched by the kitchen 
fire below, gazing, with the terrible, wistful gaze of 
the deaf and dumb, into the fire, for his eyes seemed 
to pierce through material things, and to see beyond 
mortal sight. 

Teilo found him crouching there an hour afterwards. 
His own face was very terrible to look upon, but the 
look was not the one Claudea had found him with. 


AT HOME. 267 

but one far different — a look that had nothing to do 
with his own sins and his own soul. 

He laid his hand on the boy’s head, and turned 
away his eyes as he made the sign of death. 

‘‘Davy, my poor lad, she is at rest, at rest. Do 
you understand ? She loved you dearly. Davy, you 
shall always live with me.” He remained some 
moments thus ; then he went to his own room, and 
locked the door. 

^ ^ « 

It was Claudea’s funeral day, and never had such a 
strange procession of boats been seen on the water 
that divided the island from the mainland. It was 
the miller’s boat that went to fetch the coffin and its 
chief mourners, but many other smaller crafts had 
been lent for the honour of the dead girl, and the 
long procession of sails as they rounded the cruel 
rocks looked like some slow flight of sea-birds. Dumb 
Davy crouched near the coffin with a sorrow that 
could not be comforted, for it had no words. No one 
had been able to get him away. Teilo, too, was there, 
close to the dumb lad, plunged in a grief that was 
voiceless and tearless. Here, too, in this boat was 
Martin Dewis, crying like a child, and every now and 
then laying his cheek against the cold coffin, not 
ashamed to show his grief. 

“My child, my child, my little Claudea. It’s not 
true you’ve gone away from me, not true. Just say 
one word, only one. Teilo, why do you grieve.^ you 
had her last words, her last, and I had none. Look, 


268 


CLAUDEA’S ISLAND. 


that was the spot, there yonder, where they found her. 
She who loved them all, these waters and the rocks 
and the island — Claudea’s island — why has God 
taken her away from us all ? 

Teilo could not answer ; he had no words. 

Then one of the men who was rowing looked up 
and pointed upwards. There was a long line of birds 
on the wing. They were leaving Claudea’s island for 
warmer climes, flying forth, flying no one knew 
whither. 

Then silence fell again, only broken by the father’s 
complaint, and by the splash of the tiny waves against 
the boat, for the day was perfect, and not a cloud 
marred the deep blue of the autumn sky. 

On the shore a few mourners were waiting. 

Herbert was there, and Gina was by his side. Gina 
knew all now, and these two had guessed what they 
did not know, for there had been sent to Herbert a 
little packet done up and directed in Claudea’s own 
handwriting. 

It was a book much valued by Claudea, and on the 
flyleaf was written: “A wedding gift, for Herbert 
and Gina, from Claudea.” She had planned it all, 
and he knew now what she had done, for Teilo had 
told him all when Herbert had gone over and spent 
many hours by the lonely heart-broken man. He 
knew, and Gina knew, but no one else ; they respected 
her secret, and they accepted the gift, adding to it the 
undying memory of the love of the noblest woman’s 
heart which either had ever known. 


AT HOME. 


269 


To-day Herbert held a crown of exquisite roses, 
whilst Gina, with truer woman’s instinct, had herself 
woven a wreath of autumn field-flowers and moss. 

“ Oh, Herbert! she loved them so much,” she sobbed. 

‘‘And she has loved us. Gina, we owe her the 
knowledge of something higher than human love, 
which neither of us knew before.” 

“Yes; she has linked us to her own divinity, our 
dear Claudea.” 

« « « « ♦ 

“ He that believeth in Me, though he were dead yet 
shall he live,” said Mr. Hathaway, as he gazed at the 
great throng of all conditions of poor men and women 
come to do honour to the one they loved. As Teilo 
listened, a soft peace fell upon him, and a golden haze 
seemed to surround him, whilst the bitterness of his 
sorrow fell from him like a heavy cloak loosed from 
the weary traveller’s shoulders. He stretched forth 
his hand, and silently clasped Sezerina’s fingers. 
Her low sob was the peace-token between them ; he 
could forgive at last. 

“I have been dead, O Lord!” cried Teilo’s heart. 
“ I have been dead, but am alive again. Within the 
narrow circle that Thou hast drawn around me, I will 
go forth and work for others. She said some day I 
should hear the call. I have heard it, O Lord ! I have 
heard it here, here, to-day. Lord help me, and when 
Thou hearest. Lord, forgive.” 

As they walked out to the grave, Silvester gave his 
arm to his mother, and he whispered to her ; 




270 claudea’s island, 

‘‘ Claudea would bid me be a daughter now, mother. 
She is not dead. It isn’t true. She’s only showing 
us the way.” 

But when at last they were all gone, Dumb Davy 
was crouching still by the damp earth, and from his 
wordless throat there came a low harsh cry like the 
cry of the sea-gull who has been robbed of her 
nestlings. 

When the darkness drew a veil over the lonely 
churchyard, a girl came and found him still crouching 
on the damp grave. 

‘‘Davy, Dumb Davy,” she said, though he could 
not hear. “ She was my friend — she was my friend.” 





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